Ukraine strikes Russian military air base with ATACMS missiles for first time
25 November, 2024 The moment of detonation of submunitions of two ATACMS ballistic missiles at the Kursk Vostochny airfield, November 25, 2024. Photo: https://t.me/kiber_boroshno Ukraine struck a military air base in the Kursk region with ATACMS ballistic missiles equipped with cluster warheads.
GEOINT analysts of the Ukrainian CyberBoroshno group reported on this. On the night of November 25, Ukrainian forces attacked the Russian Kursk Vostochny military air base with American ATACMS ballistic missiles. On its channel, the project posted footage of the detonation of submunitions of two M39 missiles with cluster warheads on the air base.
Analysts have geolocated the approximate areas of impact here and here. They fall within the parking lot of aviation equipment, including combat aircraft. It is not yet known whether they were stationed there at the time of the strike.
Approximate areas where the ATACMS missiles hit the Kursk-Vostochny air base. Photo credits: Maxar Technologies satellite imagery for August 2022
Bloggers associated with the Russian military aviation also confirmed the fact of the ballistic missile strike on the military air base.
In particular, the well-known propagandist Ilya Tumanov, who is the author of the Fighterbomber channel, claims that 8 missiles were launched. According to him, the air defense systems of the air base were able to work on only seven missiles, emphasizing that this term means only an attempt to intercept, not shoot down. No one from the Ukrainian government or military leadership has officially commented on this information.
US missile strikes on Russia
A week earlier, on November 19, the Ukrainian military first used American ballistic missiles to strike the territory of the Russian Federation, hitting an arsenal in the Bryansk region.
Later, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had hit a logistics center for Russian troops near the city of Karachev, without specifying what weapons had been used. However, RBC-Ukraine, citing a source in the Ukrainian Defense Forces, reported that ATACMS tactical missiles had been used in the strike.
Satellite image 67th Arsenal. Photo: Google Earth
According to The New York Times, U.S.
President Joe Biden, in the two months remaining in office, authorized the Ukrainian military to use this system for the first time in the Kursk region of Russia.