A Ukrainian offensive missile strike is said to have caused the death of hundreds of North Korean Troopers and a Russian general – and over a dozen Russian officers. The Storm Shadow strike was launched last week and is believed to have killed 19 of Putin’s men, and left a further 18 Russians and a Kim Jong Un general wounded.
The North Korean is said to have been stricken while commanding troops backing Vladimir Putin’s invasion at the time of the November 20 Ukraine attack. The incident is the first involving the use of UK Storm Shadow missiles deep inside Russia.
It was known the pinpoint missiles had hit a Putin command post and military facility, and the strike reportedly killed Lt-Gen Valery Solodchuk. The Mirror reports Russian authorities have not confirmed losses which would be grievous to both Russia and North Korea if confirmed, and the reports are yet to be independently verified.
The Storm Shadows were targeted on 20 November at an underground military facility in Maryino on a Tsarist estate, in the Kursk region. New footage shows a Storm Shadow missile involved in the attack as it flew towards its target, it is claimed.
If true, the losses may explain Vladimir Putin’s furious reaction – firing a new Oreshnik hypersonic missile at Dnipro, and his public boasts he had a new super weapon which was unstoppable by the West.
Moscow also threatened use by Ukraine of NATO-supplied missiles meant Putin could legitimately hit back with nuclear missiles.
The Russian officers reportedly killed are from Putin’s Southern and Eastern Military Districts. US-based Global Defense Corp reported 500 North Korean soldiers were killed alongside Russian officers.
Some 10,000-plus North Koreans are believed to have been moved across Siberia to the war zone after being ordered to serve Putin by their leader Kim Jong Un. They are either currently fighting for Putin or about to be deployed.
Storm Shadow missiles on 20 November hit the sanatorium of the Russian Presidential Affairs Directorate in Maryino, a former Tsarist estate, reports claim. The government is yet to confirm whether it authorised the usage of Storm Shadow missiles in Ukraine.
Supplies of the munitions provided to the country were previously sold with the stipulation they only be fired within its own territory. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recently gave a statement on the missiles in the House of Commons,
He declined multiple times to deny reports officials had allowed their use in the November 20 strike but told MPs Ukraine has a “clear right of self-defence”. He said: “The UK’s support for Ukraine is always for self-defence.
“It is proportionate, coordinated and agile, and a response to Russia’s own actions, and it is in accordance with international law. Under Article 51 of the UN Charter, Ukraine has a clear right of self-defence against Russia’s illegal attacks.”
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