The SCALP missile is the French-manufactured version of the prized British Storm Shadow.

It is a long-range, air-launched cruise missile, designed to hit high‑value fixed or fortified targets with precision and low observability.

It has a strike capability of over 155 miles , which means that it would potentially allow Ukraine to attack targets deeper into Russian territory.

This will be a massive boost to Ukraine in its efforts to target military sites in Russia.

Downing Street said the decision will allow France and Ukraine to go ahead with assembly of the missile on Ukrainian territory.

It follows efforts by the two countries to expand local production of long-range weapons, so it does not have to rely entirely on deliveries of complete missiles from abroad.

Britain was the first country to provide Ukraine with Western long-range strike missiles when it supplied Storm Shadow back in 2023.

A UK government minister has insisted whether to call an election on Volodymyr Zelensky premiership is an “internal matter for the people of Ukraine”.

Zelensky has faced pressure to call an election in recent weeks after sacked defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for a contest.

Defence minister Luke Pollard told Sky News: “When to have an election is an internal matter for the people of Ukraine, the government of Ukraine.

“If I look at the parallel with the United Kingdom during the Second World War, while there was war waging in Europe, we didn’t have elections, but that will be a matter for them. B

“But having spoken to both President Zelensky and the former defence minister you mentioned in the past, I know that both of them are committed to the defence of their nation and seeing through their nation to get to a peaceful conclusion to the conflict. It is up to them and their system about how they handle those internal affairs.”

German foreign minister Johann Wadephul plans to speak to his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, by phone today to urge him to become more personally involved in diplomatic efforts related to the war in Ukraine, he told radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

Wadephul, who was recently in Ukraine, told the ⁠broadcaster that US diplomacy ​had ⁠so far been handled largely by presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve ⁠Witkoff.

Negotiations between Russia and the US to bring about an end to the conflict in Ukraine have largely stalled amid the war in Iran, and the Kremlin said last week that ‌it had no information yet on a ​possible next visit by Kushner ‌and Witkoff.

Russian deputy ⁠foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov had said ⁠in an interview on Friday that Russia was ready to ‌listen to ​Rubio’s new ideas and ‌continue dialogue with Washington.

“I may be able to encourage him (Rubio) myself to do more there,” the German minister said, adding that Berlin was pursuing other channels to help restart negotiations.

The Ukrainian military struck a Russian MIG-29 fighter aircraft and two Russian vessels in the Black Sea overnight, Ukraine’s drone forces commander Robert Brovdi said on Monday.

Brovdi ‌said on Telegram ⁠that one of the vessels attacked was a tanker, and ‌the other ​was ‌a ⁠bulk carrier.

Shares in Ozon fell by as much as 12 per cent on the Moscow Exchange on news of the attack, while shares in its major shareholder, private equity firm AFK Sistema, fell by ‌almost 13 per cent.

Ozon has become Russia’s second ​e-commerce giant, after rival Wildberries, to ‌be targeted in Ukrainian ⁠drone attacks. Work at a logistics centre ⁠in the Samara region was halted after the first Ukrainian ‌strike on ​the company’s facilities on ‌22 August.

At least four logistics hubs owned by Russia’s second-largest online retailer Ozon in southern Russia were targeted in Ukrainian drone attacks, ⁠the company said on Monday, bringing the number of targeted facilities to six since 22 August.

Ozon said its logistics hub in Makhachkala, Dagestan, was on fire after a drone attack, while workers at warehouses in Adygeysk, in the Adygeya region, and Nevinnomyssk, in the Stavropol region, had been evacuated.

“According to preliminary ​information, ⁠several people were injured,” Ozon ‌said in a statement, referring to the facility in Makhachkala, which had halted operations.

The ⁠Russian defence ⁠ministry ​said on ⁠Monday ⁠its ​forces ⁠had intercepted ‌and destroyed 351 Ukrainian ‌drones ‌overnight ⁠over a number of regions.

Officials said the attack has caused damage at the Russian online retailer Ozon’s logistics hub in Makhachkala in Dagestan which was set ablaze.

Russia typically reports only how many drones its air defences say they downed, not how many Ukraine launched, and rarely discloses the full extent of damage unless civilians are killed or civilian sites are hit.

The Russian defence ministry said it ⁠had ​hit ⁠a ⁠tanker carrying ​fuel ⁠and ‌lubricants for Ukrainian troops in ‌the port ‌of Pivdennyi ⁠near Odesa, as well as port infrastructure facilities ‌used for ​unloading ‌and ⁠storing military ⁠cargo.

Holding a wartime election in Ukraine while active fighting with Russia continues would “destroy” the country by splitting Ukrainians, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

His comments, released to reporters on Sunday, were Zelensky’s first on the subject since ousted former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for a wartime poll in an address last week.

Fedorov’s surprise dismissal last month sparked widespread protests, but supporters calling for his reinstatement later baulked at his call for an election – the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

“I believe that if we want to destroy the country, then we can move towards elections during this kind of war,” Zelensky said.