Luhansk Videos Show Large Fire After Reported ATACMS Strike

Videos circulating on social media show a huge blaze in occupied Ukraine after a reported attack by Kyiv's forces using U.S.-supplied missiles.

Russian war correspondent Yuri Kotenok said Tuesday that there was a "massive fire after an explosion" on the outskirts of the city of Luhansk. He said on his Telegram channel that his sources say the attack was carried out by Ukraine using either ATACMS ballistic missiles or HIMARS—M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

"There are casualties," he said.

Social media videos appear to show the immediate aftermath of the strike.

Newsweek could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos and has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

The Context

The incident comes as Moscow's forces push to make significant gains in eastern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to seize swathes of Ukrainian territory before more military aid from Kyiv's allies arrives. The Luhansk and Donetsk regions, which comprise the Donbas area, are suffering constant shelling.

The U.S. recently secretly sent Ukraine Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) capable of hitting targets nearly 200 miles away. The U.S. has also supplied Ukraine with at least 39 HIMARS since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

What We Know

The attack was also reported by the Kremlin-appointed Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador-at-Large for occupied Luhansk, Rodion Miroshnik.

"Residents report at least two loud explosions and a series of bangs, like cluster submunitions," he wrote on his Telegram channel, sharing a picture of the resulting blaze.

Several people were injured as a result of the attack, Russian state-run news agency Tass reported.

Artem Lysohor, the Ukrainian head of the Luhansk region's administration, said on Tuesday that the explosions took place in the vicinity of a former aviation school, the Luhansk Higher Military Aviation School of Navigators, and an aircraft repair plant, which is located nearby.

Lysohor said specifics aren't known at this point, but "losses of aviation equipment" may be "significant."

Russia has been stationing its troops and equipment, including helicopters, in the area since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported.

Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

Views

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, assessed last month that the arrival of long-range ATACMS missiles in sufficient quantities will allow Kyiv's forces to "degrade Russian logistics and threaten Russian airfields in deep rear areas."

"Cluster-munition-armed versions of the ATACMS missiles allow Ukrainian forces to conduct more efficient strikes against airfields that can more widely destroy Russian aircraft and other assets than individual missile strikes on individual aircraft," the think tank said, adding that these strikes may prompt Russia to relocate its aircraft further from the front line.

What's Next?

The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since Russia's initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, and continues to make gains in these areas amid the ongoing war.

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