U.S. authorities announced on Wednesday that Ukraine has started utilizing long-range ballistic missiles that were surreptitiously supplied by the Pentagon, employing them to target a Russian military airport in Crimea last week and Russian soldiers in another seized territory throughout the night.
The U.S. officials did not disclose the precise number of missiles sent last month or in the most recent assistance package, which comes with a $1 billion price tag. The new missiles provide Ukraine nearly twice as much hitting range as the mid-range version of the weapon it acquired from the United States last October—up to 190 miles.
Long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) delivery was approved by Biden in February, and the United States included a “significant” number of them in a $300 million aid package in March. President Joe Biden approved a new military aid agreement on Wednesday that includes further deliveries of these missiles from the United States.
The White House opposed transferring the long-range missiles to Ukraine for months because of fear that Kyiv might use the long-range missiles to strike far into Russian territory, shocking Moscow and intensifying the conflict. The Biden administration continues to emphasize that the weapons cannot be used to strike targets within Russia. Spokesman for the State Department Vedant Patel stated on Wednesday that Biden gave his national security team instructions to deploy the ATACMS with a note directing their usage only inside sovereign Ukrainian territory.
