A Ukrainian missile strike is thought to have targeted an underground command post in a presidential compound, possibly occupied by high-ranking North Korean military personnel, according to reports.
The strike in Russia's Kursk region was conducted with Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles, precision-guided weapons designed for use against hardened targets.
The strike is thought to have targeted a command center for the Russian armed forces located within a presidential compound at the Maryino Estate, according to The Moscow Times.
Newsweek is unable to confirm if North Korean personnel were in the compound and has reached out to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for comment via email.
More than 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to the front lines in Kursk.
A report in Defense Express said the presence of North Korean forces in the region had led to speculation that "high-profile military personnel, possibly even North Korean generals," were present at the compound.
Photos and videos of the strike have been circulating in posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.
One user, Ukraine Battle Map, posted a satellite photo and video of the strike with the caption: "Ukraine struck an underground military command post in Marino, Kursk, located ~40km from Ukraine. The command post was stuck by around a dozen UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles and likely had Russian commanders, and possibly North Korean military officals (Defense Express)."
Ukraine 🇺🇦 struck an underground military command post in Marino, Kursk, located ~40km from Ukraine
The command post was stuck by around a dozen UK 🇬🇧 Storm Shadow cruise missiles and likely had Russian commanders, and possibly North Korean 🇰🇵 military officals (Defense Express) pic.twitter.com/4IKGcSydev
Another X user, Tendar, posted photos and videos and wrote: "Ukrainian forces released drone footage of the Storm Shadow strikes against Mar'ino, Kursk region, Russia. It shows that the missiles targeted the secondary buildings of that facility and hit at least 3 buildings. I marked the impact points on the map. This was an important operation. That's for sure. The fact that the Russian air defense failed to this extent that the missiles got through and even the surveillance drone could operate unimpededly speaks volumes."
The U.K. has previously supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles and has recently prepared a new military package with more of the missiles for Ukraine.
The missiles can carry a 450 kg warhead and have a range of 500 kilometers.
The strike follows President Joe Biden's authorization for Ukraine to use long-range weapons to conduct deep strikes in Russian territory and came just days after Ukraine fired U.S.-provided ATACMS missiles into Russia for the first time, striking a munitions storage facility near the city of Karachev in Bryansk Oblast.
Ukraine had previously targeted three Russian command centers in Ukraine using Storm Shadow missiles in October.
Russia has begun hitting back following Kyiv's latest strikes, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile into Ukraine for the first time, targeting the city of Dnipro.
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