On 9 June, an unnamed Ukrainian military source told Sky News that a Ukrainian jet has hit a target inside Russia for the first time. Ukraine also struck a Russian landing ship supplying Mariupol, according to the source.
Warplane hits Russia
A Ukrainian warplane fired a munition that struck a Russian command node inside Russia for the first time, as per the Skynews’ source, which confirmed it was a “direct hit” on the target in Belgorod Oblast of western Russia near the Ukrainian border.
Earlier today, Ukrainian sources reported an attack on a Russian ammunition depot in Belgorod Oblast. Later, some Russian locals claimed that a gym was hit where the Russian military were stationed, with secondary detonations lasting for several hours after the strike and the subsequent fire.
Media: Massive fire at Russian ammo depot Belgorod Oblast after alleged Ukrainian attack (video)
It is not immediately clear if the SkyNews’ source refers to the same attack.
Technically, the first Ukrainian air raid on the Russian territory occurred overnight on 1 April 2022, when two Ukrainian helicopters attacked a Russian oil depot in Belgorod City.
The US and France had recently permitted Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia from where attacks are being launched against Ukraine. After that Ukraine carried out several attacks using ground-based systems.
Also, Ukraine has already used the western weapons against targets in Russia even before the restrictions were eased. A notorious attack took place in May 2023, when Ukraine successfully used the Patriot system to destroy three Russian Mi-8 helicopters, and two jets- an Su-34 bomber and an Su-35 fighter jet – in the airspace over Russia’s Bryansk Oblast.
The attack reported by SkyNews describes a first attack on the Russian territory involving specifically a warplane. The report doesn’t specify the type of weapon used in the attack. Ukraine’s Air Force could have used the American JDAM or French AASM bomb or the Anglo-French Storm Shadow/Scalp missile.
Attack on another Russian large landing ship
The source also revealed to SkyNews that on 8 June evening, Ukrainian forces conducted a “coordinated strike” against a Russian Ropucha-class large landing ship in the Sea of Azov that had recently moved from the Black Sea. This ship became the fifth vessel of this type rendered “unserviceable” by Ukrainian attacks, out of seven available to Russia in the Black Sea region, according to the source.
The two remaining large landing ships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet are Yamal and Azov. Previously, Ukrainian missile and naval drone attacks severely damaged or destroyed two Ropuchas of the Black Sea Fleet – Tsezar Kunikov, and Novocherkassk, the Baltic Fleet’s Minsk, and the Northern Fleet’s Olenegorsky Gornyak. Additionally, Ukraine used a domestic Neptune missile to hit the Ukrainian Navy’s large landing ship Kostiantyn Olshanskyi, that Russia captured back in 2014 and tried to repair it to compensate for losses of its ships of this class. It is unclear, where are the Baltic Fleet’s Korolev, Kaliningrad, and the Northern Fleet’s Georgy Pobedonosets, deployed in the Black Sea shortly before the full-scale invasion started.
According to the SkyNews’ source, the Russian military uses the remaining landing ships to ferry ammunition and supplies to the occupied city of Mariupol for transit to the frontline.
“By thwarting Russian shipments of ammunition and key military supplies this strike will directly support Ukrainian troops in their ongoing fight,” the source stated.
So far, there have been no confirmation of the Ukrainian attack on Russia’s large landing ship in the Sea of Azov.
Read also:
- Media: Massive fire at Russian ammo depot Belgorod Oblast after alleged Ukrainian attack (video)
- Ukraine targets two Russian oil refineries and an oil depot in nighttime attack (video)
- Ukraine says it hit Russia’s stolen Ukrainian ship with Neptune missile in occupied Crimea
- BBC: Ukraine can now target military airfields in Russia with Storm Shadow cruise missiles
- Norway to supply Ukraine with F-16 “perhaps with longer-range strike capabilities”
