Ukraine has launched a strike using Western-made ATACMS ballistic missiles on the “Kursk-Vostochny” (lit. “Kursk-East”) military airfield in Russia’s Kursk Region.
Footage of the missile impacts and geolocation were published by the Ukrainian open source intelligence (OSINT) project CyberBoroshno on the morning of Nov. 25. The Ukrainian monitoring project Oko Hora suggested that the targets of the attack were either helicopters stationed at the airfield or air defense systems. The outlet later clarified that the attack specifically targeted the latter.
CyberBoroshno later shared video footage of the strike, which showed impacts on a Russian S-400 SAM system as it attempted to fend off the attack.
Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed that the country’s air defenses had shot down eight ballistic missiles within 24 hours — but did not specify their type.
The Russian pro-war channel Fighterbomber initially reported that eight missiles had been launched, with air defenses intercepting seven of them. However, it noted that, “There has been no aviation there for a long time, and such strikes cannot destroy the airfield.” Later, the channel clarified: “Engaging does not always mean shooting down. It means that the air defenses responded with missiles to so many targets.”
The Russian pro-war channel Aviahub complained that Western weapons strikes on Russia's “old” territory indicate that Russia’s recent strike on Ukraine with the “Oreshnik” missile did not have the desired effect:
“Once again, I say that timing is crucial. No one has been intimidated, they continue to fight us with all available means, and no one will limit their targets or the use of Western missiles.”
Earlier today, the Telegram channel Dossier Shpiona (lit. “Spy Dossier”) reported that on Nov. 23 three Ukrainian ATACMS missiles had destroyed a Russian S-400 air defense system near the village of Bolshoye Zhirovo in the Kursk Region. The system was under repair and was not operational. The attack destroyed two launchers and a radar station, killing five officers, including the division commander and chief of staff, along with three employees of Russia’s state-owned Almaz-Antey defense corporation.
Both strikes occurred well after Russia's deployment of its newest medium-range ballistic missile — the “Oreshnik” (lit. “hazel tree”). Vladimir Putin announced that the first “field test” of the missile was completed on Nov. 21, referring to a strike on Ukraine’s Pivdennyi Machine-Building Plant (Pivdenmash) in the city of Dnipro — a major Ukrainian defense enterprise that produces rocket and space equipment. Russia’s use of the Oreshnik missile was presented as a response to the U.S. and other Western countries authorizing strikes on Russian territory using long-range European and American-made weapons.
On Nov. 17, The New York Times reported that U.S. President Joe Biden had, for the first time, authorized the Ukrainian military to use long-range ATACMS missiles against internationally recognized Russian territory. Depending on the variant, ATACMS missiles have a range of 140 to 300 kilometers. During the night of November 18-19, the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out their first long-range ATACMS strike on Russian territory, firing at a military facility in the Bryansk Region.
Ukraine’s air force, along with President Volodymyr Zelensky, initially claimed that the Nov. 21 attack was carried out with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) — capable of striking targets thousands of miles away, including within the United States. American officials later said that an initial U.S. assessment indicated the strike had been conducted with an intermediate-range ballistic missile.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said that the Russian weapon is a new experimental intermediate-range missile derived from its RS-26 Rubezh ICBM, adding that the U.S. was “pre-notified briefly before the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels.”
In a recent interview with The Insider, defense expert Sergei Auslender commented that the Oreshnik is likely a modification of other Russian weapons that have long been in use. He described the missile as expensive and very imprecise, making mass assaults with it impossible.