Russian forces conducted a long-range strike on Ukrainian warehouses storing Western-supplied weapons, including long-range missiles and depleted uranium shells, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.
In a statement on Monday, the ministry said the military had conducted an overnight high-precision attack on Ukrainian facilities using air-launched assets and drones. The strikes targeted “the Kiev regime’s sites storing Storm Shadow cruise missiles, depleted uranium ammunition,” the statement said.
The ministry added that the barrage and the drone raid also hit Ukraine’s signals intelligence centers and facilities that train sabotage groups. “The strike’s objective has been achieved. All facilities have been hit,” it added.
Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian authorities reported several explosions in the western Khmelnitsky Region, which they said damaged a production facility. Local media also reported blasts in the port city of Izmail in the southern Odessa Region.
Ukraine received Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of more than 250km, from the UK earlier this year and used them to attack civilian targets and infrastructure in Russia’s Crimean Peninsula and Donbass, according to local officials.
The decision to arm Kiev with depleted uranium shells was made by both the UK and US. The rounds, which have high armor-piercing capabilities, are meant to be used by British-made Challenger and US-designed M1 Abrams tanks.
Russia has condemned the deliveries of depleted uranium shells, arguing that their use poses grave health risks for the civilian population and could lead to an escalation in the conflict. A 2022 UN Environment Program report warned that “depleted uranium and toxic substances in common explosives can cause skin irritation, kidney failure and increase the risks of cancer.”
Since the start of hostilities between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, Russia has repeatedly criticized Western arms shipments to Ukraine, arguing that they will only prolong the conflict but will not change the outcome.