Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, multiple sources have told the Guardian.
The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine, which UK and US officials warned was a significant escalation of the near three-year conflict.
The Guardian reported earlier this week that the UK would soon approve Storm Shadow missiles for use inside Russia after the US president, Joe Biden, agreed to do the same for the similar American Atacms weapons.
Videos uploaded to social media indicated that up to 12 missiles struck a target believed to be a command headquarters in the village of Maryno, the first confirmed use of British weapons on Russian soil during the war. Ukrainian media reported that the site may have been used by North Korean and Russian officers.
Unconfirmed images distributed via the Telegram messaging app appeared to show fragments of the missile at a location in the Kursk region. One weapons expert, Trevor Ball, formerly of the US army, said the images circulating did show Storm Shadow fragments, though he could not verify if they were current or old pictures.
The strike came a day after Ukraine used US-supplied missiles to strike targets in the Bryansk region.
Western officials have indicated they are specifically targeting the North Korean buildup in the Kursk region, as well as infrastructure that may be used for a 50,000-strong offensive against a Ukrainian incursion there.
Storm Shadows are an Anglo-French cruise missile with a maximum range of about 155 miles (250km), which so far have been used to strike Russian targets in occupied Crimea, including the naval headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. They are useful for precision targeting of bunkers and ammunition stores as well.
Vladimir Putin has warned that the use of US and UK-made missiles inside Russia’s borders would be tantamount to Nato entering into a direct conflict with Moscow. Western officials have warned that Russia could escalate strikes on critical infrastructure in Ukraine or use other hybrid warfare tactics against targets in Europe and other US allies around the world.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow would respond “appropriately” a day after Ukraine fired six of the newly approved US-made Atacms missiles into an ammunition warehouse in the south-western Bryansk region.
Hours earlier, the Russian president, Putin, signed a revised nuclear doctrine lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons amid warnings from Russian MPs that the US action was bringing “world war three” closer.
Overnight, the Pentagon said it had seen no sign that Russia was planning to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, and accused Russian politicians of engaging in irresponsible rhetoric.
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“We’re going to continue to monitor, but we don’t have any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon within Ukraine,” said the Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US announced it had temporarily closed its embassy in Kyiv after receiving warning of a “potential significant air attack”, advising American citizens to be prepared to move immediately to a shelter in the event of an air raid warning.
Such warnings are rare and likely to be based on specific intelligence. The announcement came shortly before the Storm Shadow strike was reported. The US had also reportedly approved the provision of anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, a further step after Washington granted Kyiv permission to use long-range missiles inside Russia.
The embassy said the alert applied to all of Ukraine and advised people to monitor the media for updates. It added: “The US embassy in Kyiv has received specific information of a potential significant air attack on November 20.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the embassy will be closed, and embassy employees are being instructed to shelter in place. The US embassy recommends US citizens be prepared to immediately shelter in the event an air alert is announced.”
Ukrainian media later on Wednesday announced that Russia had scrambled up to seven Tu-95 long-range bombers over its Engels air force base in preparation for a potential missile strike against Ukraine.
The embassies of Italy, Spain and Greece also closed temporarily on Wednesday after the US announcement. The US embassy has not announced whether it will remain closed on Thursday.