- Ukraine shared images of French-supplied SCALP-EG missiles the day it struck two Crimean bridges.
- Ukrainian and Russian officials reported the strikes as having damaged the bridges and a gas pipeline.
Ukraine struck two bridges in the Crimean peninsula on Sunday, with at least one hit by Storm Shadow missiles, according to Ukrainian and Russian officials.
That same day, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense released images confirming the arrival of SCALP-EG missiles — the French version of the Storm Shadow.
Their arrival relieves some pressure on Ukraine's military, which has only a limited supply of the powerful but expensive missiles.
France announced in early July that it would supply an undisclosed number of the air-launched missile to Ukraine.
The move angered chief Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who warned of unspecified "consequences," as Le Monde reported.
The SCALP-EG missile is France's version of the Storm Shadow, which the UK started to give to Ukraine earlier this year.
Experts have described the Storm Shadow as "absolutely critical" to Ukraine's counteroffensive. Its high precision, evasive technology, and far reach means it can strike Russian targets far behind the front lines.
In images released on Ukraine's Air Forces Day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seen writing "Glory to Ukraine" on a French-supplied missile attached to a SU-24 bomber.
The missile also bears an image of the Ukrainian coat of arms, overlaid with the Eiffel Tower.
Ukraine claimed responsibility for the bridge strikes using the missile in a tweet on Sunday, making a sarcastic nod to Russia's recent efforts to wipe out a key Ukrainian airfield and with it the country's ability to launch the Storm Shadow.
In the tweet, Ukraine said that Russians had only "found" the missiles when the Crimean bridges were struck by them.
—Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 6, 2023
Volodymyr Saldo, the region's Russian-installed leader, said that a checkpoint on the Chonhar bridge — which connects the peninsula to the Russian-occupied Kherson region — had been suspended, according to Russian state-controlled news agency TASS. He claimed the bridge has no military significance, the outlet reported.
The strike on the second bridge, around 15 miles away at Henichesk, set a nearby gas pipeline ablaze, leaving local residents without a gas supply, Saldo added.
Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine's interior ministry, shared images purporting to show the damaged bridges:
—Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 6, 2023
Storm Shadow missiles have been credited with far-reaching strikes since they began to be used by Ukraine earlier this year.
A colonel in Kyiv's air defense command, who was not named, recently told The Times of London that the missiles in Ukraine's possession have twice their publicized range — about 310 miles, rather than the 155 miles advertised by its manufacturer.
In July, the UK's Ministry of Defence declined to specify whether the missiles sent to Ukraine had been modified in any way.
Last month, Russia claimed to have shot down one of the missiles and was studying the recovered parts to better understand the technology and how to combat it.