🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
United States-provided cluster variants of ATACMS missiles may have damaged more than three dozen Russian helicopters, new photographs indicate, in what could be a more significant victory for Kyiv than previously thought.
Images and footage circulating online appear to show the impact of bomblets, or submunitions, from M39 missiles thought to have been used in Ukraine's recent Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) strikes on a Russian military base in Moscow-controlled Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine.
Photos shared to X, formerly Twitter, appear to show a smattering of damage on Russian helicopter, as well as holes in a runway.
On October 17, Ukraine's special operations forces said they had destroyed nine Russian helicopters in overnight strikes on airbases in the Zaporizhzhia city of Berdiansk and Luhansk City. Both sites are far behind the current front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine, in Russian-occupied territory.
#Ukraine's Oct 17 attack on 2 occupied airfields was beyond successful. It likely disabled & destroyed an incredible 21 Russian helicopters. Although satellite images show distinct burning of helicopters, many more would have looked untouched, but in fact will have suffered… https://t.co/uY61Vf6cqy pic.twitter.com/dov7945dyQ
— Glasnost Gone (@GlasnostGone) October 23, 2023
Ukraine also destroyed an anti-aircraft launcher, an ammunition depot, runways and unspecified special equipment, the special operations forces added at the time.
It was the first known ATACMS strike on Russian assets in Ukraine of the almost 20 month-long war, and the first confirmation that the U.S. had provided Kyiv with the long-range weapons. Analysts said the arrival, deployment and aftermath of the ATACMS strikes likely came as an unwelcome surprise to Russian commanders.
Ukraine had long petitioned Washington for the long-range surface-to-surface missiles, beefing up its strike capabilities to take out far-off valuable Russian targets. The cluster variant ATACMS could "dramatically change the entire strategy and tactics of the war," refocusing attention away from Ukraine's grueling land war to long-range strikes, Dan Rice, a former adviser to Ukraine's top soldier, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, told Newsweek as footage of the strikes emerged on social media.
The figure of nine helicopters taken out by the strikes dealt a painful blow to Russia's air force. Yet reports then emerged among open-source intelligence accounts, suggesting Russia may have lost far more than the nine helicopters Kyiv took credit for damaging, with the true tally reaching 21 helicopters.
Newsweek could not independently verify the images circulating online nor the open-source claims and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
The ATACMS are designed for strikes such as these. They are well suited to zeroing in on Russian bases amd airfields, rather than the hardened or fortified targets the long-range British and French-supplied Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles can hit.
"Russia will be forced to disperse its military assets in order to avoid vulnerability to ATACMS strikes" with these cluster warheads, according to Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo, Norway.
This could undermine Russia's air defense, and likely put more pressure on Moscow's logistics, he previously told Newsweek. "The effectiveness of Russian aviation may also be impaired due to Russia having to withdraw some of its aviation assets further away from the frontline," he added.
It is "another game-changer" that will "save a lot of lives" among Ukraine's ranks, Volodymyr Omelyan, a captain in Ukraine's military and a former minister for infrastructure, told Newsweek last week.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more