Russia’s Defense Ministry claims to have intercepted Storm Shadow missile

In its daily briefing, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that, within the past 24 hours, the Russian air defense had intercepted a long-range Storm Shadow missile. The agency did not specify where or when exactly the missile had been shot down.

This is the first time the Russian military has made such a claim.

The news of a British long-range missile delivery to Ukraine emerged in the Russian media on May 11. On Monday, May 15, the Russian-backed authorities in the annexed Luhansk region of Ukraine said that two long-range missiles had been launched at Luhansk that day.

Neither of these official reports have been independently confirmed by other sources.

In the summer of 2022, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have disabled six HIMARS missile systems recently delivered from the U.S. to Ukraine. The Pentagon did not confirm this at the time, while the Ukrainian side accused the Russian ministry of spreading misinformation.