Ukraine reportedly strikes Russian military airfield in Kursk Oblast with ATACMS missiles for first time

Ukraine has struck a military airfield in Kursk Oblast with ATACMS ballistic missiles featuring cluster munitions, reported by GEOINT analysts from the “Cyberflour” Ukrainian project.

On 17 November, Ukraine received permission to strike deep into Russian territory after US President Joe Biden gave the green light for Kyiv to use long-range missiles. Despite Ukraine’s months-long appeals amid Russian air attacks and offensives in Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts, Western nations had continued to restrict the use of their long-range weapons, such as ATACMS, fearing escalation.

On the night of 25 November, Ukrainian missile forces launched a strike on the Russian “Kursk-East” tactical aviation airfield with American ATACMS ballistic missiles, writes Militarnyi.

Following the strike, the “Cyberflour” project shared footage showing the detonation of submunitions from two M39 rockets with cluster warheads at the airfield.

The analysts found the approximate impact areas here and here, which appear to be near the aircraft equipment parking areas with combat aircraft. It is currently unknown whether aircraft were stationed there at the time of the strike.

Russian military aviation bloggers have also confirmed the ballistic missile attack. Notably, pro-Russian propagandist Ilya Tumanov, who runs the Fighterbomber channel, reported the launch of eight missiles.

According to him, the airfield’s air defense systems managed to intercept only seven of the missiles, emphasizing that this term refers only to an attempt to land them down, not the interception of the missiles.

The Ukrainian government or military representatives haven’t commented on this information.

Earlier, Ukrainian forces used American ballistic missiles for the first time to hit Russian territory, hitting an arsenal in Bryansk Oblast.

The target was identified as the 67th GRAU Arsenal, a facility containing strategic supplies of munitions. GRAU stands for the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Ukraine hit strategic Russian ammo depot in overnight attack, likely using ATACMS (video)

The facility stored artillery ammunition, including North Korean supplies for their systems, guided aerial bombs, anti-aircraft missiles, and multiple launch rocket system ammunition.

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