A North Korean general was injured and several officers sent by Pyongyang to Russia’s Kursk region were killed last week when Ukraine launched British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles at a Russian command centre, according to a Ukrainian official.

The UK government recently supplied Ukraine with dozens more Storm Shadow cruise missiles, according to people familiar with the matter, a first under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has pledged continued support for the country’s war against Russia.

Sir Keir Starmer has not confirmed that the UK is supplying the precision weapons - but they are understood to have been used by Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia last week.