Zelenskyy: Ukraine needs ATACMS missiles to hit targets in Crimea

Ukraine plans to use long-range ATACMS missiles to strike military airfields in Russian-occupied Crimea.

This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with the Washington Post.

Zelenskyy explained that Kyiv urgently needs long-range ATACM-300 missiles, which he said could hit targets in Russian-occupied Crimea, especially airfields from which Russia launches aircraft with precision-guided missiles that cause extensive damage. These missiles have recently hit Odesa and several other targets.

"When Russia has missiles and we don't, they attack everything with missiles – gas, energy, schools, factories, civilian buildings," Zelenskyy said, noting that the supply of ATACMS missiles to Kyiv by allies could be a response to these Russian actions.

"When Russia knows that we can destroy these aircraft, they will not attack from Crimea. It's like with the navy. We pushed them out of our territorial waters. Now we will push them out of the airfields in Crimea," Zelenskyy was quoted as saying.

The journalist asked him whether, as rumoured, the missiles had already been sent from the United States. Zelensky laughed and said that he could not disclose this information, but that they were not in Ukraine yet.

In the same interview, Zelensky acknowledged that the US response to the attacks on Russian refineries "was not positive," but he stressed that Kyiv used "its own drones" to strike the targets.

"No one can tell us that this cannot be done," Zelensky said.

Earlier, the media reported that the United States is preparing the first military aid package for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in many months, worth $400 million.

According to Politico, the package will include APAM cluster munitions (an early version of the ATACMS missile), as well as additional ammunition for MLRS and 155 mm artillery systems. It is expected that these deliveries will to some extent make up for the Ukrainian military's ammunition shortage.