Sky News: Kiev has launched its first airstrike on Russia's border area

According to the source, a “Russian command post” was allegedly hit by an airstrike in the Belgorod region. Moscow has not commented on the claim, but if confirmed, it would be the first such case since the conflict between the two countries erupted in February 2022.

No further details were shared with Sky News, including the type of weapon and vehicle involved.

RT said Russia has air superiority on the front line and an extensive air defense network, which puts Ukraine at high risk when operating its remaining air assets.

However, the source said, Ukraine has carried out attacks inside Russia using small, hard-to-detect kamikaze drones.

The Belgorod region borders Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, where Russian forces seized significant territory last month. This reportedly prompted the administration of US President Joe Biden to authorize limited strikes with US weapons inside Russian territory, with several Western countries subsequently expressing support for a similar escalation.

According to RT, Ukrainian officials believe that this policy change is not enough because they want to use long-range Western weapons to attack targets deep inside Russia. Britain and France have provided Kiev with air-launched Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles, which have a range of 550 km.

Officials in both countries have publicly stated that they would be fine if Kiev used the weapons at its own discretion, but Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said his government has yet to receive explicit permission.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on Sky News' claims, but they said that on the morning of June 9, a Ukrainian Neptun-MD anti-ship missile was intercepted in the skies over the Belgorod region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last week that if his country were attacked by long-range weapons from the West, it could supply similar weapons to parties that could use them against Western military assets. Putin added that this path could lead to very dangerous results.