Ukraine launched the 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.
Ukraine’s use of the UK-supplied missiles to hit Russian territory was confirmed to Reuters by an official on condition of anonymity. British media also reported the use of the cruise missile on Wednesday, citing sources.
When Umerov was asked if Ukraine used the Storm Shadow missiles to hit a target inside Russia, he replied, “we are using all the means to defend our country, so we’ll not go into detail. But we are just sending that we are capable and able to respond.”
Umerov added: “We’ll be defending and giving punches back… with all the means available.”
A Russian military blogger on Wednesday posted photos on Telegram of a Storm Shadow missile fragment, claiming that up to 12 of the missiles were fired on Russia’s Kursk region.
According to the Russian blog, the fragment was photographed in the Russian village of Marino, which is about 35 miles from the Ukrainian border. The fragment has engravings that say “Storm Shadow.”
BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams wrote on Wednesday that “Ukraine has so far confined the use of Storm Shadow to the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops continue to hold ground.” He noted reports were still murky, and the target is not known “but Storm Shadow is powerful enough to penetrate bunkers, with extreme accuracy.”
Ukraine used US missiles to hit ammo depot
Ukraine used eight long-range US missiles to successfully hit an ammunition depot deep inside Russia, according to two US defense officials.
The facility struck is in Bryansk, north of the Kursk region, where Ukraine continues to hold Russian territory sezied in a counteroffensive.
According to an initial assessment of the strike, the Ukrainian attack damaged the ammo depot, the officials said. One official added that the US had seen indications of secondary explosions, a common result of striking facilities housing large quantities of ammunition and weapons.
Russia fired two interceptors at the incoming missiles and may have intercepted a pair of the ATACMS, the officials said, but the attack was still successful in hitting its target.
The US assessment contradicts the Russia’s claim that the Ukrainian attack did not cause any casualties or damage.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that Ukraine had fired six ATACMS missiles at the facility in Bryansk, claiming five of the missiles were shot down and the sixth was damaged. The Ministry said fragments of the missiles fell on the territory of the military facility, causing a fire that was extinguished.
Ukraine has yet to confirm or deny the use of the long-range US missiles. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Ukraine has long-range capabilities. Ukraine has long-range drones of its own production. We now have a long ‘Neptune’ (Ukrainian cruise missiles) and not just one. And now we have ATACMS. And we will use all of this.”