Ukraine has executed a strike at a Russian occupation headquarters in Berdiansk, the Zaporizhzhia region, according to the Ukrainian military.
“We have successfully hit a Russian HQ in Berdiansk. The enemy’s losses are to be clarified,” reads the statement.
The occupation “authorities” of the Zaporizhzhia region reported earlier that the city had been hit with British Storm Shadow missiles. The attack claimed no lives, says Vladimir Rogov, a local occupation official.
The UK has supplied Storm Shadow, long-range air-launched cruise missiles, to Ukraine, about a week and half ago.
The missile’s range is 250 km. A source told CNN that this projectile “a real game changer from a range perspective”. According to the TV channel, the maximum range of the missiles that were previously exported to Ukraine stands at 80 km.
“Critically, the Storm Shadow has the range to strike deep into Russian-held territory in Eastern Ukraine,” CNN noted.
Another anonymous source told journalists that Ukraine had vowed not to use these missiles to strike Russian territories. At the same time, CNN underlines that Western officials refer to Crimea as Ukraine’s sovereign territory.
The Russian authorities condemned the transfer of Storm Shadow missiles. “We regard this decision as another extremely hostile step by London, aimed at further pumping up Ukraine with weapons and leading to a serious escalation of the situation in the zone of the special military operation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin has a “very negative” attitude towards such supplies.
