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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Will Stewart & Douglas Patient

Explosion 'from British Storm Shadow missile' rips through Russian-occupied port

An explosion which is claimed to be from a British Storm Shadow missile has ripped through Russian-held port.

Russia faced major new attacks from Ukraine today in port Berdiansk and border region Belgorod.

Footage shows the scene of a missile strike with a suspected British-supplied Storm Shadow in Berdiansk on the Sea of Azov.

A huge plume of smoke was seen rising from a location in the port area in Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

State media outlet RT said there had been “casualties and destruction” from the strike.

The exact target was not immediately clear.

Berdiansk was first hit on Saturday in Storm Shadow missile strikes.

In Belgorod region, two women were reportedly killed in Maslova Pristan settlement amid intense shelling in Shebekinsky district.

A child and another adult were reported as wounded.

An explosion in a Sea of Azov port of Berdiansk in Russian-occupied Ukraine (social media/east2west news)

A report said an explosive device was dropped on a road from a drone.

The area is under siege from Russian anti-Putin partisans challenging the armed forces from bases inside Ukraine.

A video shows Free Russia Legion fighters inside Russia at Novaya Tavolzhanka village in Belgorod region.

Thousands of locals have evacuated border towns and villages amid fighting.

Thousands of locals have evacuated border towns and villages (Andryuschenko Time/east2west news)
There had been “casualties and destruction” from the strike (Berdyansk_ru/east2west news)

In Russian-occupied Mariupol, also on the Sea of Azov, air defences hit incoming Ukrainian missiles, according to Russian reports.

Earlier Russia faced drone attacks in Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.

And other drone attacks were aimed at pulversing energy facilities in Russia's Smolensk region, which border Belarus close to northern Ukraine.

It came hours after western officials confirmed the Ukraine counter-offensive will happen without specifying exactly when.

Footage shows the scene of a missile strike (social media/east2west news)

Ukraine announced its air defences have shot down more than 30 Russian cruise missiles and drones in Moscow's sixth air attack in six days on Kyiv.

Simultaneously the Ukrainian capital has been attacked from different directions by Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles from the Caspian region.

Kyiv was the target of drone and missile attacks on 17 days last month, including daylight attacks.

A Storm Shadow on display in London (AFP via Getty Images)

But according to Washington-based think tank Moscow's strategy of trying to batter Kyiv's will ahead of the long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive could backfire.

In as assessment it said the air campaign aims to "degrade Ukrainian counteroffensive capabilities, but... the Russian prioritisation of Kyiv is likely further limiting the campaign's ability to meaningfully constrain potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions."

Mystery cross-border attacks, probably by Ukraine, have been aimed at spreading out and confusing Russian troops ahead of the forthcoming fight-back.

And that policy could be devastating for Russia.

The UK's MoD said: "Russian commanders now face an acute dilemma of whether to strengthen defences in Russia's border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine."

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