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British media also reported the use of a cruise missile yesterday, citing sources.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov refused to confirm or deny the use of UK-made missiles during a press conference yesterday.
When Umerov was asked if Ukraine used Storm Shadow missiles to hit a target inside Russia, he replied: “We are using all means to defend our country, so we won’t go into details. But we are just sending that we are capable and able to respond.”
Umerov added: “We will defend ourselves and retaliate… with all available means.”
A Russian military blogger posted photos of a fragment of a Storm Shadow missile on Telegram yesterday, claiming that up to 12 missiles were fired at Russia’s Kursk region.
According to the Russian blog, the fragment was photographed in the Russian village of Marino, which is about 56 km from the Ukrainian border.
The fragment has engravings that say “Storm Shadow”.
Weapons expert Trevor Ball, a former US Army senior explosive ordnance technician, who reviewed the image for CNN, confirmed that the fragments in the photo came from a Storm Shadow missile.
Ukrainian defenders “bend, but do not break” in fierce battles
However, CNN was unable to confirm that the Telegram image was taken yesterday.
A weapons expert who reviewed the video for CNN said there was no indication the explosions were from another type of munitions, but it was not possible to definitively say they were from Storm Shadow missiles.
CNN has reached out to the French defense ministry for comment.
The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams wrote yesterday that “Ukraine has so far limited the use of Storm Shadow to the Kursk area, where Ukrainian troops remain.”
He noted that the reports are still murky and the target unknown, “but the Storm Shadow is powerful enough to penetrate bunkers, with extreme precision.”
Ukraine hit an ammunition depot with American missiles
The attack comes a day after two US officials told CNN that Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS missiles across the border for the first time on Tuesday to hit Russia’s weapons arsenal.
Ukraine used eight US long-range missiles to successfully hit an ammunition depot deep in Russia, according to two US military officials.
The affected facility is located in Bryansk, north of the Kursk region, where Ukraine continues to hold Russian territory occupied in a counter-offensive.
According to an initial assessment of the strike, the Ukrainian strike damaged an ammunition depot, officials said.
One official added that the US had seen indications of secondary explosions, a common result of attacks on facilities that house large amounts of ammunition and weapons.
Russia fired two interceptors at the incoming missiles and may have intercepted a pair of ATACMS, officials said, but the strike was still successful in hitting its target.
The US assessment contradicts Russia’s claim that the Ukrainian attack caused no casualties or damage.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Ukraine had fired six ATACMS missiles at a facility in Bryansk, claiming that five missiles were shot down and a sixth damaged.
The ministry said that parts of the missile fell on the area of the military facility, causing a fire that was extinguished.
Ukraine has yet to confirm or deny the use of US long-range missiles.
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