Ukraine launched British-French-made Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time on Wednesday, according to a Russian military blog and Reuters, a day after Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS missiles into Russia.

Russian air defences shot down two British Storm Shadow cruise missiles, Russia's defence ministry said on Thursday in its daily report of events over the past 24 hours.

The first use of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia marks a turning point in Western resolve to help Ukraine. Whether a decisive intervention or too little, too late, it says a number of things about the state of the war. First, it marks a welcome return to seriousness.