Russia-Ukraine Flash Report 12 MAY 2023 09:45 PDT - Storm Shadow Strike? (Patreon)

There are multiple Russian reports and geolocated confirmed videos of the Poly Pack Plant in occupied Luhansk (city) being hit by up to three cruise missiles. The Poly Pack Plant has been a logistics, supply, and repair base for Russian equipment and troops.

The videos show a massive fire and a column of black smoke rising from the facility, which is 95 to 100 kilometers from the line of conflict, out of HIMARS range. Local residents report the sound of missiles arriving before the explosions.

We cannot confirm these were Storm Shadow missiles at this time, as they could have been the mythical Grom-2, the Turkish GMLRS system, or Tochka-U when we consider other possible weapons systems. Local reports are more consistent with a cruise missile strike, which would align to air-launched Storm Shadow.

The critical thing is so-called Luhansk People's Republic officials are not denying the military strike on a critical Russian logistics and supply node. We expect the LNR Joint Center for Control and Coordination to report a chocolate chip factory filled with orphans and kittens was viciously attacked with pictures of broken windows two blocks away from the actual strike.

Strikes like this would be part of setting conditions for a counteroffensive. If this was a Storm Shadow cruise missile strike, expect more in the coming days with far better accuracy than Russian cruise missiles.