The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have used British Storm Shadow long-range missiles in the Russian Kursk region for the first time, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The UK approved the use of Storm Shadow missiles after Russia deployed North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine, which the British government saw as an escalation, an anonymous Western official told Bloomberg.
The news partially confirms earlier reports by popular Russian pro-war Telegram channel, Dva Mayora, which said the AFU had fired up to 12 British Storm Shadow missiles in the region at 2:50pm local time, hitting the village of Maryino. The channel also posted photographs of the wreckage of a missile with the inscription Storm Shadow clearly visible on it.
Neither the AFU nor the Russian Defence Ministry have commented on the reported strike.
Kursk region Governor Alexey Smirnov said that two missiles had been shot down over the region on Wednesday, but did not specify what type.
Earlier, The Times reported that the US had lifted its restrictions on the AFU using Storm Shadow missiles into Russia. The UK cannot authorise such strikes with its missiles single-handedly because the US provides the navigation data needed to allow the missiles to fly up to 250 kilometres low above the ground.
The AFU used Western-supplied American ATACMS missiles to strike a military facility inside Russia for the first time on Tuesday after the Biden administration lifted its prior restrictions on Sunday in a move long called for by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.