Ukraine has struck Russia for the first time with British missiles.

The Ukrainian army launched a missile attack on the city of Kurchatov in Russia's Kursk Oblast. While Russian air defense systems intercepted some cruise missiles, others hit their targets.

It was reported that the Ukrainian army, which attacked Russia with "ATACMS" missiles authorized for use by the U.S. yesterday, used the British-French jointly produced "Storm Shadow" missiles in this attack.

After the Biden administration granted permission for the use of U.S.-made missiles in Ukraine, it was expected that the UK would also sign a similar decision. However, no official statement had been made regarding the matter yet.

Meanwhile, images of the attack carried out by the Ukrainian army have also emerged.

PUTIN HAD APPROVED THE NUCLEAR WEAPON DOCTRINE

Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously stated that "allowing Ukraine to attack Russian territory would mean that NATO countries, the U.S., and European countries are participating in the war in Ukraine." Following this statement, Putin signed a doctrine that allows for a nuclear response if his country is subjected to ballistic missile attacks.

ZELENSKIY: UKRAINE HAS LONG-RANGE WEAPONS AND WILL USE THEM

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy, who did not confirm that the attack was carried out with long-range U.S. weapons, stated, "I will not go into unnecessary details, but Ukraine has long-range weapons and will use them." Zelenskiy continued his remarks as follows: "We have domestically produced long-range drones. We now have long-range Neptune missiles. We now have ATACMS missiles. We will use all of these."

WHAT IS ATACMS?

ATACMS, a type of supersonic tactical ballistic missile, was designed by the U.S. defense company Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) and Lockheed Martin, which also produces F-35 fighter jets. ATACMS missiles use solid fuel. They are 4 meters long and 610 mm in diameter, with a maximum range of up to 300 kilometers. The range is what makes the missile significant for Ukraine. The cost of each ATACMS missile is approximately 1.5 million dollars.

ATACMS is powered by a solid rocket propellant and follows a ballistic path towards the atmosphere at high speed and high angle before returning, making them difficult to intercept. They can be configured to carry two different types of warheads. The first consists of a cluster of hundreds of submunitions designed to destroy lightly armored units over a wide area. This can include parked aircraft, air defenses, and troop concentrations.

WHAT IS STORM SHADOW?

Storm Shadow is a cruise missile produced by MBDA, a British-French-Italian partnership company. It is also known by the name SCALP. Developed in the late 1990s, Storm Shadow was based on the Apache missile developed by MBDA to strike airport runways. It has three fundamental differences from the Apache. While the Apache carries submunitions, Storm Shadow carries a warhead. In addition to GPS-INS, the guidance systems have been enhanced with imaging infrared (IIR) and terrain reference system (TERPROM). Furthermore, the body design has been crafted with an emphasis on stealth characteristics. The missile can currently be launched from Tornado, Mirage 2000, Rafale, and Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.