The explosions at a Russian air base in Crimea, which killed one person and injured 14 others, were last reported to have been caused by Ukrainian special forces, a Ukrainian government official told The Washington Post.

A Kyiv government official spoke to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly on the subject.

A source at America’s largest newspaper did not elaborate on how special forces in Ukraine planned Tuesday’s attack from a Russian military airbase on the Crimean peninsula, which has been occupied by Putin since 2014.

American journalists note that the explosions at the airfield in Novofedorivka in western Crimea mark an escalation of the war that Putin began almost six months ago, highlighting the possible ability of Zelenskyi’s forces to strike at a distance of more than 200 km from the border.

The American press also reported that Russian military aircraft in the area were destroyed as a result of the attack, Reuters reports.

Russian planes destroyed by explosions

The Air Force of Ukraine said on Wednesday that about 10 Russian planes were destroyed in Crimea.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said that Russia has Su-24, Su-30, Il-76 and other aircraft at the Saka airfield in Novofedorivka in Crimea. According to him, on Tuesday, a warehouse of aviation ammunition was fired upon.

A series of powerful explosions occurred at the airfield, at least 14 people were injured and one died.

While Moscow said that the explosions were the detonation of stored munitions and not an attack, Kyiv did not officially claim responsibility for the explosions at the Russian air base.

However, analysts say that the explosions were most likely caused by a Ukrainian attack, Kyiv Independent notes.

But on Tuesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy focused his speech on Crimea, promising to win back this territory.

“Crimea is Ukrainian, and we will never give it up,” he said, without mentioning the air base or the attack.

Ukrainian special forces infiltrate people in Russian-occupied territories

Ukrainian special forces are participating in a campaign to infiltrate Russian-controlled territory and coordinate with local supporters in occupied areas to carry out attacks, The Washington Post reports.

The operations were conducted especially in the south of the Kherson region occupied by the Russians, north of the Crimea.

In June, a Russian-appointed official in Kherson died in a mysterious bomb explosion on his way to work.

Posters put up in Kherson by Ukrainian resistance groups warned Kremlin stooges that the partisans would come after them, according to images posted on social media.

“If HIMARS does not come, then the guerrillas will help,” one of the posters read.

Ukrainians did not use HIMARS

A Kyiv government official told The Washington Post that no Western weapons were used during the attack on the Russian airfield in Crimea.

The American highly mobile HIMARS artillery missile systems provided by the United States to Ukraine have a maximum range of 80 kilometers.