Ukraine fired U.S.-made ATACMS missiles with cluster warheads at a Russian military airfield in Kursk Oblast on Sunday, according to the geospatial intelligence group Cyber Boroshno‘s post on Telegram.
The tactical aviation airfield, Kursk-Eastern, also referred to as Kursk-Vostochny, was hit by two cassette ATACMS, and two submunitions, parts of the cluster warheads, detonated on the airfield, according to Pravda.
The geospatial intelligence group also posted about the Ukrainian strike on X, formerly known as Twitter, and included a video of the strike.
The Ukrainian strike reportedly hit a parking lot at the airfield, but it is unknown if there were combat aircraft there at the time the missiles hit.
Ukraine also used British-French Storm Shadow missiles, another form of long-range weapon, to strike a Russian military compound in Kursk last week, after which Russia vowed to enact a “more powerful” response.
Biden’s authorization has led to an escalation in tension between Russia and Ukraine, and the two countries have fired retaliatory attacks at each other since last week.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X that Russia launched “nearly 150 strike drones, aerial bombs, and missiles, targeting over 10 of our regions” last night.
He added: “Combat operations are still ongoing against aerial targets that remain in the air.”
Zelensky noted that Kharkiv, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia were hit in the Russian strikes.
The Kursk governor, Alexei Smirnov, posted on Telegram that a Ukrainian missile was destroyed near the border of Kursk Oblast. Smirnov also wrote on Telegram that Ukraine sent seven missiles, and that Russian forces shot down seven drones.
The airfield, formerly a commercial airport, was one of many airports in southern Russia shut down and made a military site after the war began in February 2022, according to the Russian news outlet Novye Izvestia.
Ukraine not only struck the military airfield last night, but also hit a Russian missile production site, the Typhoon factory, in western Russia. The factory, known for producing parts for air defense systems, combat vehicles and coastal sets, was struck by Ukrainian missiles of an unspecified kind last night.
This is not the first time Ukraine has fired U.S.-made ATACMS missiles at Russia, as they targeted a Russian munitions depot in Bryansk Oblast last week, shortly after President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use long-range weapons to conduct deep strikes in Russia.
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