RUSSIA has launched a wave of drone attacks on a Ukrainian airbase reportedly housing UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
A three-wave attack saw explosions near the Starokonstantinov airbase and fires raging in Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region.
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The scale the damage is not yet clear.
The head of Ukraine’s regional military administration, Sergei Gamaly, said “a series of explosions” hit the region and Ukrainian air defences were operating.
There were reports Russia sent up seven Tu-95 nuke-capable strategic bombers to unleash strikes with conventional Kh-101 missiles.
Russian sources said the Starokonstantinov base has been used by Ukrainian Su-24 warplanes to fire Storm Shadows.
The waves of attacks reportedly included advanced Russian Kinzhal – or Dagger – missiles.
This was followed by Iranian-made Shahed drones and Kalibr missiles.
The strategic bombers were reportedly used to fire Kh-101 cruise missiles at the base.
According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the strike was aimed at Ukraine’s stocks of the Storm Shadow missiles – as well as the base.
The attack coincided with the Ukraine’s Air Force day, and Russian reports claim other airbases were attacked.
Russia has previously admitted how Britain’s Storm Shadow rockets are a nightmare for their battlefield plans.
The bunker-busting cruise missiles are dodging their air defence systems and helping Ukraine in its counter-offensive.
Yevgeniy Balitsky, Kremlin-appointed governor in occupied Zaporizhzhia, said the weapons “certainly give us trouble”.
He added: “We’ve somehow learned how to shoot down US-supplied HIMARS, but our air defence is having a hard time against Storm Shadow.
“It flies at different speeds, at varying altitudes, changing modes.”
Defence analyst Paul Beaver previously told The Sun: “Storm Shadow is giving Ukraine a very significant advantage — and I don’t believe Russian claims that 50 per cent of them are being stopped.
“They can fly around targets before striking to totally blindside enemy forces.”
Britain announced the supply of Anglo-French-designed Storm Shadows in May after pleas from President Volodymr Zelensky for a sophisticated longer-range weapon.
Last month, a luxury hotel used to pamper Russian top brass was blitzed by a British Storm Shadow missile – killing commanders including a top Putin general.
Storm Shadow cruise missiles took out the entire swimming-pooled hotel plus the reserve command post for Russia’s occupying 58th army.
The blast killed Lieutenant-General Oleg Tsokov, the deputy commander of Russia’s Southern Military District said to be “personally known to Vladimir Putin.”
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Imogen Braddick
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