Ukraine used British Storm Shadow missiles to take out an underground command post containing North Korean troops, it has been claimed.
It has been widely reported that the weapons were used for the first time yesterday. The defence secretary is certain to face questions in the Commons today related to their deployment.
One clip on the Ukrainian website Defense Express shares a video that says it was shot in the Kursk region – specifically the settlement of Maryine.
The report suggests 15 explosions can be heard in the footage, shot next to a building currently a sanatorium under the administration of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation.
Defense Express’s report adds: “With a huge degree of probability, we are not talking about an ordinary facility of signalmen, but about a buried command post.
“Given the proximity of the sanatorium, it is very likely that it was used by the command of a group of Russian troops in the Kursk region.”
The report adds that DPRK troops and possibly North Korean military commanders were also based there.
If that were accurate, it would tally with suggestions that Russia‘s deployment of North Korean troops was the tipping point that persuaded Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to agree to the use of Storm Shadows.
Wreckage from one of the long-range weapons has been found in Russia‘s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, several media outlets have said.
Storm Shadow’s use in Russia comes a day after Moscow said American long-range weapons had been fired into its territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons after US President Joe Biden permitted Kyiv to fire US ATACMS long-range missiles into Russia.
Downing Street would not comment on the reports.
Number 10 has previously refused to comment on any changes in policy about allowing Kyiv to use long-range missiles in Russia.
In the House of Commons, shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge raised a point of order, asking whether ministers were expected to make a statement on the reports.
Defence Secretary John Healey had earlier told MPs he had spoken with his counterpart in Kyiv on Tuesday where they discussed the UK’s plan to support Ukraine.
Mr Healey told the Commons on Wednesday: “We’ve seen over recent weeks significant change in the action and in the rhetoric on Ukraine, and Ukraine‘s action on the battlefield speaks for itself.
“We as a nation and as a government are doubling down on our support for Ukraine and are determined to do more.
“I discussed this with Ukrainian minister Rustem Umerov in a call yesterday where he talked about the robust response that Ukraine is making to recent Russian escalations.”
Labour MP Alex Ballinger, who previously served with the Royal Marines, said he hopes the Storm Shadow missiles can “take the fight to the Russians”.
Mr Healey is due to appear before the Commons Defence Committee at 10.30am – while the House of Lords is expected to hold a debate on Ukraine led by Lord Peter Ricketts, chairman of the European Affairs Committee, later in the day.
