Suspected Storm Shadows Blast Russian Targets in Occupied Luhansk

Ukrainian pilots carried out an effective strike on an “enemy facility” in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region on April 13.

Explosions were reported in the area of a machine-building plant.

Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukraine’s Air Forces reported on his Telegram channel:

“After a pause, I thank the pilots of the Air Forces for a successful and – most importantly – effective strike on an enemy facility in the Luhansk region on April 13, 2024. The Ukrainian pilots did an excellent job and returned to the base.”

Oleshchuk emphasized: “There will be more such strikes on Russian logistics centers behind the front lines as soon as Ukraine receives MORE missiles from its Western partners.”

The Air Force commander did not specify what types of missiles were used. But the Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles provided by the UK and France are the most likely air-launched missiles in Ukraine’s arsenal.

In May 2023, Kyiv received a batch of Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles from the UK.

In August 2023, France confirmed that similar SCALP missiles had been transferred to Ukraine.

However, since Ukraine does not field any NATO aircraft, adjustments were needed to resolve the incompatibility issue.

As a workaround, Ukraine equipped its Su-24Ms and Su-24MRs supersonic bombers with the Storm Shadows using decommissioned pylons from the RAF Tornado GR4 fighters, according to military analysts. But as a result, it is also believed that coordinates were entered pre-flight as the pilot could not relay target information using Soviet avionics.

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With the imminent arrival of US-made F-16 fighter jets, Ukraine’s air-to-surface strike capability should be enhanced.