Sputnik quoted the Russian Defense Ministry's announcement that the country's air defense forces successfully intercepted eight Ukrainian Storm Shadow cruise missiles during a raid on the Crimean peninsula on the afternoon of October 30.

"At around 1:00 p.m. local time on October 30, an attempt by Ukraine to attack the Crimean peninsula with eight Storm Shadow cruise missiles was thwarted. Russian air defense forces in the area shot down all targets," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

In the most recent airstrike on the Crimean peninsula, Ukraine used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to attack the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea fleet in the port city of Sevastopol.

Previously, Ukraine had repeatedly used drones and missiles into Russian territory as well as the Crimean peninsula.

The SCALP/Storm Shadow cruise missiles provided by the UK and France are expected to help the Ukrainian army increase its strength dramatically, as the HIMARS rocket artillery did in late 2022.

Observers believe that SCALP/Storm Shadow played an important role in Ukraine's counterattack, with advantages such as a range of up to 250 km, carrying a warhead of more than 450 kg, multiple guidance modes, and being difficult to detect by radar.

However, the Russian military has also repeatedly claimed to have successfully intercepted SCALP/Storm Shadow, even capturing intact missile parts.

To counter Storm Shadow, Russia currently has weapons such as the long-range air defense systems S-400, S-300, plus Buk-M3 and Buk-M2 launchers that operate at close range.

Tra Khanh (Source: Sputnik)