British-manufactured Storm Shadow cruise missiles destroyed a major command and communications center in Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, a General Staff official statement said on Monday.
Ukrainian bombers launched the attack, sending the high-tech NATO-standard weapons to score multiple hits on the headquarters, the statement said. Ukrainian media reported impacts at around 7 p.m. local time. Luhansk occupation authorities, along with the Russian military, had not, by afternoon on Tuesday, commented on the strikes. Ukrainian military unit channels monitored by Kyiv Post confirmed the fact of a Storm Shadow strike hitting a headquarters somewhere in Luhansk region, but none contained precise information about the location, exact target or damage caused.
The General Staff statement said: “The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine used Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles to successfully destroy an important enemy command-and-control and communications post in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk region. This strike underscores that strategic foresight, unity of planning, and deliberate actions make any Ukrainian soil occupied by the Russian aggressor unsafe for him. There will be more to come!”
In a break with the usually dry, conservative and formal style of official General Staff statements, the announcement about Storm Shadow missiles hitting the Russian military headquarters, and promise of similar attacks in future ended with an uncharacteristic explosion emoji: “💥”
Unconfirmed reports circulating in Ukrainian media on Tuesday said that the targeted headquarters was in or near the town of Dovzhansk, a coal-mining settlement adjacent to the major city Luhansk. According to published statements by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), the Russian military has used Dovzhansk’s rail and storage infrastructure for more than a decade as a supply hub, and a base for command and control for Luhansk region-recruited troops fighting on Russia’s side there as well.
The last confirmed Ukrainian drone strike on Dovzhansk facilities, hitting fuel storage and vehicle holding sites, took place on May 3-4, per a General Staff statement of the time. A May 5 USF statement said the facilities targeted and set afire by drones mostly supported Russia’s 90th Tank Division, a major formation operating in the Donbas sector since 2023.
Britain’s Storm Shadow and its French analogue, the SCALP, are advanced, terrain-hugging cruise missiles built to resist electronic jamming. Both carry a 450 kg (992 lbs) warhead engineered for deep penetration – striking ships or fortified bunkers and detonating from within.
Ukraine manufactures its own cruise missiles with bigger warheads and longer range, but the Storm Shadow/SCALP is accounted by far the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s most precise long-range strike weapon, with a rated accuracy of 1-3 meters (3-10 feet) maximum error at ranges above 300 kilometers (186 miles).
According to government statements, Britain’s armed forces had about 600 Storm Shadow missiles in inventory in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine a second time. The number of Storm Shadows turned over by London to Kyiv is classified. Most analysts estimate the quantity received by Ukraine since the first delivery in mid-2023 at between 50 and 100 missiles, total.
Ukraine’s military attempts Storm Shadow strikes only rarely, in the past firing the cruise missiles at only the highest-priority targets. Prior to Monday, the most recent confirmed Storm Shadow launch by Ukraine took place on May 2 with a salvo hitting Russian drone and launch facilities near Donetsk airport in mid-April. Previous to that, a March 10 Storm Shadow strike with four to seven missiles hit and badly damaged the Kremniy El electronics plant in Bryansk, Russia. The factory was a key Russian producer of microelectronics and components for Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.
Probably the most successful Storm Shadow strikes carried out by Ukraine took place on Sept. 13 and Sept. 22. In the first attack, Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG cruise missiles launched from Su-24 bombers struck and severely damaged at moorings a Russian navy missile submarine and amphibious assault ship in the port of Sevastopol. The follow-up strike hit the Russian navy headquarters in Sevastopol during a senior officer staff meeting, reportedly killing 34 commanders and staff, including the second-in-command of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.