Ukraine said Tuesday it had hit airfields in the Russian occupied south and east of the country during the night, claiming the “successful operation” had destroyed several helicopters.

Kyiv, which launched its counteroffensive against Russian forces this summer, has claimed to have carried out several operations in occupied territory.

In a mission dubbed “Operation Dragonfly”, Kyiv’s special forces said on social media they had attacked airfields in southern Berdyansk and eastern Lugansk.

Berdyansk fell to Russian forces early in their invasion last year. Lugansk has mostly been controlled by pro-Russia forces since 2014.

It said the mission was “successful”.

Kyiv claimed to have destroyed nine helicopters, an air defense launcher, and an ammunition warehouse and said it had damaged runways.

It also claimed Russian forces had suffered losses in the operation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s “assault operations” had achieved results.

“I am grateful to those who are effectively destroying the occupiers’ logistics bases on our land,” he said in a statement.

He also thanked “every warrior” for defending key frontline areas in the east and south of the country.

An influential Russian Telegram channel, Rybar, which has close ties with Moscow’s forces, alleged Tuesday that US-made ATACMS missiles were used in the attack.

There has been no official announcement that the US has sent these weapons to Kyiv.

Rybar said that a munitions depot had been destroyed in the Ukrainian attack and that “helicopters were damaged to varying degrees.”
Kyiv has for months asked the West to supply it with long-range weapons for its counteroffensive, which has been slower than expected.