France has joined the United States and Britain in signalling to Ukraine that it is allowed use long-range weapons against targets on Russian territory, in a shift that has drawn the wrath of Moscow.

Ukraine has fired UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time, the BBC understands. The war-torn country was previously restricted to using the long-range missiles within its own borders.

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.