Ukraine ‘destroys Russian helicopters in Berdyansk and Luhansk’
SMA NEWS – KYIV
Ukraine says it has destroyed nine Russian helicopters in an air strike on two cities in the Russian-occupied east of the country.
A special forces statement said an air defense system and other equipment were hit, as well as a munitions dump, in the cities of Berdyansk and Luhansk.
Dozens of Russian troops were killed or injured in the operation, it added. There has been no independent confirmation of the attack, and no comment from the Russian military.
Vladimir Rogov, the Russian-appointed governor of the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region, said air defense systems “successfully intercepted enemy rockets” over Berdyansk, adding that information about casualties and damage was being checked and would be provided later.
But an unverified video on a pro-Russian social media account — said to have been filmed in Berdyansk — appears to show explosions and flying rockets, while a voice explains that an ammunition dump has been hit.
Another Russian blogger has written of an attack on an airfield with US-made ATACMS rockets, inflicting what the author described as a “serious blow”, with losses of people and technology.
In September there was talk of long-range ATACMS missiles being sent to Ukraine by the US — but such weapons never appeared in that month’s list of $325m (£266m) worth of military aid for Kyiv.
Pictures on social media suggest such weapons might be in Ukraine. Images have been posted claiming to be debris from used ATACMS at the airfield — these images have not been independently verified by the BBC.
They indicate that the ATACMS missile is the early MGM-140A variant — a shorter-range version of the family of weapons with a striking distance of around 100 miles (160km).
