Ukraine fires UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for first time, according to reports

A SCALP EG/STORM SHADOW low-observable, long-range air-launched cruise missile, an air to surface weapon from the European manufacturer MBDA is seen on display at the company's booth at International Paris Air Show 2023 at the Le Bourget Airport. 

Nicolas Economou/NURPHO/Associated Press/File

Ukraine has 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.

Ukraine’s use of the United Kingdom-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 Storm Shadow missiles on Wednesday, citing sources.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov refused to confirm or deny the use of the missiles during a Wednesday news conference, as did a spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defense when asked by CNN.

Umerov said: “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.”

“We’ll be defending and giving punches back … with all the means available,” he added.

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.”

The fragments in the photo were confirmed to be from a Storm Shadow missile by weapons expert Trevor Ball, a former senior explosive ordnance technician for the US Army, who reviewed the image for CNN. However, CNN was unable to verify that the Telegram image was taken on Wednesday.

A separate video posted on Telegram, which was verified and geolocated by CNN, shows explosions audible from Marino on Wednesday. A weapons expert who reviewed the video for CNN said there are no indications the explosions are from a different type of munition, but it’s not possible to definitively say they are from Storm Shadow missiles.

Remember: The UK and France have previously supplied the long-range Storm Shadow missiles for Ukraine to use inside its own borders. The missiles have a range of about 250 kilometers (155 miles), which is slightly shorter than the range of the American ATACMS (186 miles). CNN has reached out to the French Ministry of Defense for comment.