Russia claims to have captured the warhead of one of Ukraine’s most destructive weapons and is now studying how it works.

A short video published by RIA-Novosti, a Russian state-linked news agency, shows a soldier inspecting what he says is a Storm Shadow, a missile built by Britain and France and also known as a Scalp.

“We understand the penetration depth, the response range from the surface, what target sensors are used,” said the uniformed Russian soldier, whose face is covered with a balaclava.

The air-to-surface Storm Shadow missile is one of the most potent weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal, with a range of more than 150 miles.

Its commanders have used them to pound the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet and other military targets in occupied Ukraine, forcing the Russian Navy to withdraw its most valuable warships.

Ukrainian strikes on targets in occupied Crimea have infuriated Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, who has ordered Russian forces to improve training and air-defence systems.

In the RIA-Novosti video, a seemingly undamaged white, metal spherical object roughly the size of a small car wheel is shown, though there are no markings immediately visible that would identify it as a Storm Shadow.

The clip, which has not been independently verified, was released early on Sunday morning. It is the second released by the news agency in the past week showing what appears to be the same Russian soldier inspecting captured Western weapons.

The previous clip, released on Monday, showed him with what he said was a captured Atacms missile, a US-made long-range artillery weapon.

Both videos were set to similar dramatic music and appeared to have been shot in the same warehouse filled with metal military objects.

RIA-Novosti also quoted a Russian military source as saying that engineers from Russia’s defence ministry were studying the captured warhead to deduce the Storm Shadow flight patterns.

“The study of the missile by Russian specialists will allow countermeasures to be taken to protect against such weapons, including the creation of shelters with the necessary characteristics,” it reported.

Neither Ukraine nor its Nato allies have commented on either video and the Russian ministry of defence has not explained how it apparently captured the missiles.