Moment Russian ammunition dump explodes in massive fireball ‘hit by Storm Shadow missile supplied to Ukraine by Britain’
- Footage showed the giant pulsating inferno raging in the eastern Luhansk region
- Russian occupation officials did not immediately comment on the strike
A suspected UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile has destroyed a major Russian ammunition warehouse in occupied Ukraine as Kyiv’s forces continue to push back against Moscow.
Footage showed the giant pulsating inferno raging in the eastern Luhansk region following the devastating missile strike.
The strike was in Sukhodilsk, close to Ukraine’s international border with Russia – around 6 miles (around 10km) from the country.
Locals said a ‘powerful explosion’ preceded the blazing fireball, and speculated the strike was by precision Storm Shadow missiles which have a 155 mile range and are wreaking increasing havoc in Russian-occupied areas.
Russian occupation officials did not immediately comment on the strike.
Footage showed the giant pulsating inferno raging in the eastern Luhansk region following the devastating missile strike
The strike was in Sukhodilsk, close to Ukraine’s international border with Russia – around 6 miles (around 10km) from the country
It comes as an unexploded Storm Shadow missile retrieved almost intact on the battlefield has been ‘evacuated’ to Moscow, said a former senior Russian official now seeking to collect trophies useful to the Kremlin so that Russia can learn their secrets.
READ MORE: Russian soldiers ‘shaking with fear’ at the UK’s Storm Shadow missiles, US colonel says
‘It is already in Moscow,’ said Dmitry Rogozin, formerly Putin’s deputy prime minister and head of the Russian Space Agency.
The missile was being dissected ‘to the last screw’, he said.
‘Our specialists meticulously study all this and share knowledge and trophies with leading Russian defence enterprises and general designers in priority areas for the development of weapons and military equipment.’
Russia would utilise the ‘modern weapons’ both to create its own new rockets but also to design more effective defencive missiles to use against Storm Shadows, he said.
The Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French missile but it is only Britain that has supplied them to Ukraine.
Russia has admitted that the missiles have caused a major problem for their forces.
Last month, Yevgeny Balitsky, Moscow-appointed head of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine, said the weapons are causing ‘trouble’ and are even more problematic for the Kremlin’s armies than the US-supplied HIMARS systems.
Locals said a ‘powerful explosion’ preceded the blazing fireball, and speculated the strike was by precision Storm Shadow missiles
The suspected UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile has destroyed a major Russian ammunition warehouse in occupied Ukraine
Dmitry Rogozin (left), formerly Putin’s deputy prime minister and head of the Russian Space Agency, said the Russians had a Storm Shadow missile in Moscow
A graphic showing how the Storm Shadow Missiles work on the battlefield
The Storm Shadow missile (file photo) with a 155 mile range and precision accuracy has severely damaged Russian invaders in Ukraine in recent months
His words confirm the impression that the long-range Storm Shadow has been a game changer for the Ukrainians.
‘They certainly give us trouble with their missiles, I must say, especially Storm Shadow,’ said Balitsky.
‘We’ve somehow learned how to shoot down [US-supplied] HIMARS.
‘But the [British-supplied] Shadow ones are even harder. They arrive, and have a bigger radius. So it’s a problem for us.
‘In fact, our air defence is having a hard time with [Storm Shadow].
‘It shoots them down, but there’s only a 50 per cent chance of the missiles being shot down.’
He added: ‘Out of four, three have recently reached us.
‘Sometimes two make it. The missile is modern, although it is not the newest, but it is fast enough, it flies properly. I mean, at different speeds, at varying altitudes, changing modes, so it is not easy to shoot down.’
Britain announced the supply of Anglo-French-designed Storm Shadows to Ukraine on May 11, answering a long-time demand from Kyiv for long-range missiles to help defend their territory against Putin’s invading armies.
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