* Ukraine says it hit Russian airfield, rocket centre

* Kyiv says rocket centre is linked to Russian version of

Starlink

* Russia says it hit long-range Ukrainian storage facility

(Rewrites after statements from Ukrainian president and General

Staff)

KYIV, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Saturday its

long-range strikes had hit a Russian military airfield and a

rocket centre that Kyiv says supports Russia's nascent

Starlink-style satellite internet network.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Flamingo cruise missiles

struck the rocket facility, about 900 km (560 miles) from

Ukraine's border, as part of Kyiv's campaign to pressure Moscow

to end the more than four-year war by targeting sites deep

inside Russia.

"It is important that Russia's war potential be reduced. Peace

is needed, and this must be evident in Russia - through concrete

damage to specific facilities," he said in a post on X. He said

the airfield hosted aircraft used to attack Ukraine.

'MASSIVE MISSILE ATTACK'

Ukraine's General Staff said direct hits were recorded at both

the airfield in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region and the Progress

rocket and space centre in Samara region. It said the strikes

had sparked fires at both sites.

The General Staff said the Samara plant produces rockets used

to launch satellites for the Rassvet broadband network, which

Russia is developing as an alternative to SpaceX's Starlink.

Starlink operates in Ukraine, but not in Russia, and has given

Kyiv a major advantage in drone operations and battlefield

communications.

There was no confirmation of the airfield strike from

authorities in Nizhny Novgorod. In Samara region, local

officials said air defences had repelled a "massive missile

attack".

"Samara's industrial infrastructure sustained localised damage,"

Ivan Noskov, head of the regional capital, said in an online

post, without specifying which site was affected. Emergency

services were working at the scene, he said.

Overnight, Samara's regional governor said a missile had struck

an unidentified industrial facility. Seven hours later, at

around 1215 local time, he said emergency services were still

dealing with the aftermath, without providing further details.

The Progress centre has played a key role in the Soviet and

Russian space programmes, including through the production of

the Soyuz family of rockets.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February

2022. While battlefield advances have slowed across much of the

front this year, according to analysts, Russian forces continue

to press towards key cities in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

Both sides have meanwhile stepped up long-range strikes against

a range of targets.

On Saturday, Russia's defence ministry said in the past 24

hours its drones, missiles and artillery had struck Ukrainian

logistics centres and fuel, energy, and transport infrastructure

used by the Ukrainian army, as well as assembly workshops for

long-range drones and drone boats.

A long-range drone storage facility in Ukraine's Chernihiv

region was among the targets hit, the ministry said.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.