The Russian military has claimed to have shot down two British-made Storm Shadow missiles – without specifying where or when this took place.
The news comes just hours after Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Ukraine in a major escalation of the war.
The announcement came in the ministry’s daily roundup of the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
It did not provide precise details or specify what the missiles were targeting.
This is not Moscow’s first public announcement of the downing of Storm Shadow missiles. Russia earlier reported shooting some down over the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine says Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile overnight targeting Dnipro city in the central-east of the country, which, if confirmed, would be the first time Moscow has used such a missile in the war.
In a statement on Thursday on the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine‘s air force did not specify the exact type of missile but said it was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, which borders the Caspian Sea.
It said an intercontinental ballistic missile was fired at Dnipro city along with eight other missiles and that the Ukrainian military shot down six of them.
Two people were wounded as a result of the attack, and an industrial facility and a rehabilitation centre for people with disabilities were damaged, according to local officials.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised nuclear doctrine that formally lowers the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons.
Putin has previously warned the US and other NATO allies that allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied longer-range weapons to hit Russian territory would mean that Russia and NATO are at war.
The new doctrine allows for a potential nuclear response by Moscow even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power.
While the doctrine envisions a possible nuclear response by Russia to a conventional strike, it is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons and keep Putin’s options open.
John Healey would not be drawn into telling a committee of MPs whether UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles had been used in Russia by Ukraine.
The Russian military has reported it shot down two of the long-range weapons.
Asked to confirm reports Storm Shadow had been used by Ukraine, the Defence Secretary told the Defence Committee: “I won’t be drawn on the operational details of the conflict.
“It risks both operational security and in the end the only one that benefits from such a public debate is President Vladimir Putin.”
The Storm Shadow is a Franco-British low-observable, long-range air-launched cruise missile developed in 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace and now manufactured by MBDA.
Storm Shadow is the weapon’s British name; in France, it is called SCALP-EG (an acronym for “Systeme de Croisiere Autonome a Longue Portee – Emploi General).
The missile is based on the French-developed Apache anti-runway cruise missile.
However, it differs in that it carries a unitary warhead instead of cluster munitions.