Image source, EPA

In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledges that there have been a lot of "nerves and questions" about the looming threat of a large attack from Russia today.

Those threats led to the US embassy in Kyiv to temporarily close, after it said it had knowledge of a "potential significant air attack" from Moscow.

The Ukrainian leader goes on to ask citizens to continue to heed air raid alerts, but says that the "information frenzy" that took place today "benefits only Russia".

"Today, on the 1,001st day of a full-scale war, Russia is just as insane as it was on the 1,000th day and on February 24," Zelensky says, highlighting the day in 2022 when Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

The Ukrainian government offered a similar warning to Zelensky's night-time address, saying earlier today that Russia was spreading fake messages about the attack on Kyiv and that it was a "massive informational and psychological attack against Ukraine".

The governments of Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico have made an urgent appeal "to avoid actions that escalate the arms race and aggravate the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine".

In a joint press release, it adds: "We urge all parties involved to comply with their international commitments and to give priority to dialogue and the search for peace in the region."

The Latin American countries' joint appeal comes after Ukraine fired UK-supplied long-range missiles into Russia for the first time since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

We're yet to hear Moscow's response to the development that Ukraine has used UK-supplied long-range missiles against targets inside Russian territory - but we did hear more generally from a Kremlin spokesman a little earlier.

Dmitry Peskov, accusing Western countries supporting Ukraine of using the country "as a tool" to wage war, told Russia's RIA state news agency that Western politicians were continuing "their line of inflicting a strategic defeat on our country".

On Monday, a day after US President Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to use US-supplied longer-range missiles in the same way, Peskov reiterated that President Vladimir Putin had said any move by a Nato country to authorise the use of long-range missiles would be a declaration of war.

Image source, Reuters

We're now hearing from US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who says he will not speak publicly on the Ukrainian use of Storm Shadow missiles - but adds that America "consult with the Ukrainian government, Ukrainian military, about a broad range of tactics".

Asked at a briefing, by the BBC's Rebecca Hartmann, about reports that the US provided navigational information for the missiles, he says he is not "going to speak to that at all".

On the landmines we now know the US will provide to Ukraine, Miller says they are "very different" to those deployed by Russians in Ukraine. The Russian mines will remain a threat for decades, and will "long outlast the conflict", whereas the US ones are battery powered, which means they will expire after being deployed, he tells reporters.

Miller also says they are easy to detect, so when the war ends it will help the clean up operation.

He adds that the US embassy in Kyiv, which was closed today over a potential attack, will return to normal on Thursday. He did not go into the specifics of the threat.

There've been a flurry of updates in the last few hours - here's what you need to know:

• Following initial reports, the BBC now understands Ukraine has fired UK-supplied long-range Storm Shadow missiles at targets within Russia for the first time
• It comes after Ukraine fired US-supplied longer-range missiles at Russian territory for the first time on Tuesday - one day after US President Joe Biden gave permission for it to do so
• UK defence officials had been seeking US approval for Kyiv to use Storm Shadow missiles provided by Britain to hit military targets inside Russia
• However, the use of Storm Shadow missiles could be "too little too late", the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says
• Earlier, Ukraine said Russia is staging a "psychological attack" in spreading messages of a large attack - this came after the US and other countries temporary closed their embassies over an air strike threat
• Meanwhile, Biden has agreed to give Ukraine anti-personnel landmines, a defence official tells the BBC, as the US steps up aid to slow Russia’s advances

Image source, Getty Images

The US will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied anti-personnel landmines to help it slow Russia’s advances, the country's defence secretary has confirmed.

Lloyd Austin says the US's focus is to help Ukraine "meet their needs".

"They've asked for these, and so I think it's a good idea to provide them," he told reporters whilst on a trip in Laos.

He says Ukraine is currently making their own anti-personnel mines, so providing these "makes it far more safer eventually".

The US has spoken with Ukraine about how and where they will use the mines and ensured they "are doing things responsibly", he says.

The decision from the US comes just two days after it allowed Ukraine to fire US-supplied longer-range missiles inside Russian territory.

Ukraine's use of Storm Shadow will have been a carefully weighed decisionpublished at 18:34 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November

18:34 GMT 20 November

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Once again, deliberate ambiguity surrounds Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weaponry inside Russia.

Britain’s defence secretary, John Healey, said Ukraine’s action “speaks for itself”.

His Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, said simply that his country was "using all the means to defend our country".

But after Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) missiles inside Russia, it was always likely that Britain (which makes the Storm Shadow/Scalp missile) would follow suit.

Reports are still sketchy, but it seems that Ukraine has so far confined the use of Storm Shadow to the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops continue to hold ground.

The nature of the target is not known, but Storm Shadow is powerful enough to penetrate bunkers, with extreme accuracy.

Given that Ukraine is not thought to have many missiles at its disposal, it’s likely the target was chosen with some care.

While this appears to be the first time Storm Shadow has been fired into Russia, it’s not the first time it’s been used, to devastating effect, against Russian forces.

In September last year, it was used to wreck a Russian submarine in a dry dock in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, home of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

Crimea is Ukrainian territory that was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Shortly afterwards, another Storm Shadow missile hit the fleet’s headquarters, killing 34 people.

Ukraine's supply of long-range missiles is small, so it will need to choose its targets carefully, Shashank Joshi, the Economist's defence editor, says.

"Ukraine has to pick every target with extreme care," he tells the Verify Live program on the BBC news channel.

Sharing his analysis of the war, Joshi says the central frontline in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region could collapse by the spring.

While both armies are tired, if Moscow's North Korean recruits become a steady supply to the frontline, that could become a "serious problem" for Ukraine.

On the other hand, he says the battlefield is now saturated by Ukrainian drones, and as trees and shrubs lose their foliage in the wintertime, it will become easier for UAVs to spot Russian soldiers on the move.

• For more on this topic, Joshi discusses how useful long-range missiles are for Ukraine with Jamie and Vitaly on this week's Ukrainecast

Footage appears to show aftermath of strike in Kurskpublished at 18:04 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November

18:04 GMT 20 November

By Matt Murphy and Emma Pengelly

The BBC is working to verify images claiming to show the aftermath of a Ukrainian strike using a UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile in the Russian border region of Kursk.

Much of the footage is being shared on Telegram - a social media network popular in Russia and which has often been used to carry footage of the conflict.

Footage reviewed by BBC Verify located one clip to the town of Maryino - a small village in Kursk. A reverse-image search of keyframes from the video - in which you can hear multiple explosions and see a plume of smoke - found that the clip first surfaced online at 13:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Another clip showing damage to a building also appears to have been first posted to Telegram on Wednesday. But importantly, neither of the clips show a direct strike by a missile.

Two Majors - a pro-war blogger popular in Russia - posted what it said were photos of missile debris. Again, a reverse image search showed that no earlier copies of the images have appeared online.

BBC Verify has shown the photos to weapons experts but they have not yet confirmed whether they came from a Storm Shadow.

There's been a lot of news this week about various weapons being supplied to Ukraine by its allies. In case you need a catch-up, here's a timeline to help you understand how we got here:

• Sunday: US officials say Biden has given Ukraine the green light to use the Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) missiles supplied by the US to strike within Russia
• Tuesday: Russia's ministry of defence says Ukraine fired long-range missiles into its Bryansk region
• Tuesday: US officials confirm use of the Atacms to CBS news, the BBC's US partner. Ukraine has not commented
• Wednesday morning: Biden agrees to give Ukraine anti-personnel land mines. He also announces $275m (£217m) in extra supplies of ammunition for Kyiv from the Department of Defense
• Wednesday afternoon: Ukraine uses UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles inside Russian territory for the first time, the BBC understands

And that brings us up to now. Stay with us as we continue to bring you more analysis and updates on this developing story.

Britain still doesn’t want to be seen as directly participating in warpublished at 17:25 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November

17:25 GMT 20 November

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent

A few months ago, a defence source told me the first we’d know about the UK’s Storm Shadow being used to hit a target inside Russia would be after the event.

It has now happened, though the government has still not officially confirmed it – just sources.

There is a reason for the caution.

First, there will be some concerns about Russia’s reaction. But just as important is this moment being seen as a Ukrainian military decision – rather than one led by the UK. Britain still doesn’t want to be seen as directly participating in this war.

The truth is that London has been more willing than Washington to lift the restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons. But this government has been very careful not to be seen as forcing a decision. The sensitive negotiations have been carried out behind closed doors.

The first use of Storm Shadow missiles on targets inside Russia is a significant moment. But there was never meant to be a fanfare ahead of their use.

What difference could Storm Shadow make?published at 17:07 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November

17:07 GMT 20 November

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Some, but it may be a case of too little too late.

Kyiv has been asking to use long-range Western missiles inside Russia for so long now that Moscow has already taken precautions for the eventuality of the restrictions being lifted.

It has moved bombers, missiles and some of the infrastructure that maintains them further back, away from the border with Ukraine and beyond the range of Storm Shadow.

The most immediate and significant targets include the build-up of Russian and North Korean troops and equipment intended to take back the territory held by Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk region.

But one ex-US official told the BBC that there was scepticism in the White House and the Pentagon about how much difference using Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia would make to Ukraine's war effort.

Justin Crump of Sibylline says while Russian air defence has evolved to counter the threat of Storm Shadow within Ukraine, this task will be much harder given the scope of Moscow’s territory that could now be exposed to attack.

Image source, Getty Images

As we just reported, the BBC understands that Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles at Russian targets for the first time.

These weapons are long-range missiles - the maximum distance they can reach is around 250km (155 miles).

It is launched from an aircraft and then flies at close to the speed of sound, hugging the terrain, before dropping down and detonating its high explosive warhead.

Storm Shadow is considered an ideal weapon for penetrating hardened bunkers and ammunition stores, such as those used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.

But each missile costs nearly US$1 million (£767,000), so they tend to be launched as part of a carefully planned flurry of much cheaper drones, sent ahead to confuse and exhaust the enemy’s air defences, just as Russia does to Ukraine.

Britain and France have already sent these missiles to Ukraine - but with the caveat that Kyiv can only fire them at targets inside its own borders.

This week, the US gave permission for Ukraine to use them in Russia.

• Read more about the missiles, and why they are crucial for Ukraine

The BBC understands that UK supplied Storm Shadow missiles have been used on targets inside Russia for the first time.

Image source, Reuters

Let's return now to one of the other major news lines from today, which is that President Joe Biden has agreed to give Ukraine anti-personnel landmines, a US defence official tells the BBC.

A bit earlier, former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke to the BBC News channel about the US's decision, which has triggered pushback from some campaign groups.

Kuleba defends the US's position, saying it is within international law, but adds there are "moral ramifications for human rights defenders, and I totally get them".

"But we're fighting a war against a vicious enemy and we must have the right to use everything we need within the realm of international law to defend ourselves," he says.

He also references Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to use US-made long-range missiles, the Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms), to strike within Russia.

Asked if Ukraine is losing the war, he says no, but adds: "It is unfortunate that these decisions on Atacms and landmines and provision of other kinds of weapons came so late."

"If these decisions had been taken earlier we wouldn't have lost all this territory and you wouldn't be asking me this question," he says.

Image source, PA Media

The UK's defence secretary won't confirm reports that Ukraine has fired a UK-made long-range missile into Russian territory.

John Healey made the remarks while speaking in the Commons earlier, adding that “Ukraine’s action on the battlefield speaks for itself”.

He tells MPs he spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart yesterday, saying the pair discussed Ukraine’s “robust response” to recent escalation by Russia and the UK's plan to “support them throughout 2025”.

“At this point I’m not able to get into any further operational details," Healey says.

Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you some updates from the Ukrainian defence minister, who has just finished speaking at a press conference.

Rustem Umerov would not confirm the reports that his country has used UK-made long-range missiles within Russian territory, but says Ukraine is "using all the means to defend our country".

"We are not going [into] detail but we are just saying that we are capable and able to respond."

As we covered earlier, there have been reports that suggest Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said Keir Starmer's office would not comment on these reports for operational reasons.

We're now seeing reports that Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russian territory for the first time.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his office would not be commenting for operational reasons.

We're working to verify this and will bring you more details as we get them.

President Joe Biden’s decision to give Ukraine anti-personnel landmines has been met with fierce criticism from campaigners opposed to the use of the weapons.

In Geneva, Tamar Gabelnick, Director of The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) told the BBC that the organisation condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the reported decision by the Biden administration to transfer anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine.

She says "these horrific, indiscriminate weapons" were banned by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and that there are no circumstances under which Ukraine may "acquire, stockpile, or use them".

She has strongly urged the US to reverse its decision, adding that as the "the world’s largest donor to mine clearance" it is "inconceivable that the US would simultaneously facilitate the laying of new mines".

Hanna Chornous
Reporting from Kyiv

Image source, Reuters

Since this morning, the warnings of a “potentially significant attack” and some embassy closures have been shared widely on Ukrainian social media and private chats.

The US embassy has issued warnings at least twice this year, including over the New Year holiday and Ukraine’s Independence Day in August.

There were big attacks within daysboth times. However, there was a massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine just three days ago, which targeted energy infrastructure and brought the return of power cuts.

It was one of many missile attacks this year, including one in July which destroyed part of a children’s hospital in Kyiv.

Russian drone attacks are a daily reality in Kyiv and other cities. The buzz of drones and booms of air defences disrupt the nights for millions of Ukrainians.

People are routinely killed in these attacks on their homes, even when they're far away from the frontlines.

Ukrainian officials said today that Russia is conducting a “psychological warfare operation” and urged people to take shelter during air raid alerts – just like on any other day of Russia’s full-scale war.

One way or another, the warnings have worked.

As sirens rang out in the capital this afternoon, a shelter in an international hotel was busier than usual.