Boris Johnson announced the sending of more missiles to Ukraine following the Russian attack on a train station

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Friday the sending of more anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, following the attack on a train station that his German counterpart Olaf Scholz, visiting London, described as “atrocious”.

Stating that “Russia's crimes in Ukraine will not go unpunished,” Johnson announced the delivery of military equipment worth 100 million pounds ($130 million), including Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and another 800 anti-tank missiles.

The attack on Kramatorsk station “shows the darkness in which (Vladimir) Putin's once reputed army is mired,” Johnson said at a joint press conference with Scholz.

“The UK and Germany share exactly the same feeling of horror and repulsion at the brutality that is unleashing, including the inconceivable bombing of refugees fleeing their homes this morning,” added the British Prime Minister.

“It is a war crime to attack civilians indiscriminately, and Russia's crimes in Ukraine will not go unnoticed or go unpunished,” he added, as the German chancellor denounced this “heinous” attack.

The two leaders also spoke about imports of fossil fuels from Russia, on whose gas Germany largely depends as an energy source.

London has already announced that it wants to end all Russian oil and coal purchases this year, and eventually Russian gas, and calls on Europeans to do more in that regard.

“We do everything we can,” Scholz said.

“We are quite optimistic that we will soon get rid of the need to import gas from Russia and, as the Prime Minister has said, we are working hard to achieve that,” he added.

MANPADS are short-range portable air defense systems, which use surface-to-air missiles guided with infrared location technology to detect and attack targets. Being effective at an altitude of between 3,000 and 4,800 meters, they pose a great threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.

Several NATO allies sent such an air defense system to Ukraine. The United States did it through its Stinger missiles, and the United Kingdom with the aforementioned Starstreak.

The Starstreak works very differently than almost all other types of MANPADS. Each missile contains three 900-gram tungsten alloy darts that are released once the projectile's two rocket engines burn to increase the magnitude of damage. After launch, the missile is directed at the target via a double low-intensity laser beam - which prevents detection - directed by the operator until the moment of impact. This increases the likelihood of hitting the target.

Darts can pierce helicopters' armor and explode upon penetration, causing far more damage than an explosion on the surface.

Compared, for example, to the US Stinger missile, the Starstreak reaches a speed of more than 3,700 km per hour, making it the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile in the world. It travels at 10 miles per second, and can reach the target in 5 or 6 seconds, giving the plane or helicopter very little time to avoid being hit.

(With information from AFP)

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