US secretly provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles - media
The missiles were used for the first time in the early morning hours of 17 April, when they were fired at an airfield in Dzhankoy
The United States has been secretly supplying Ukraine with ATACMS long-range missiles in recent weeks, and last week Ukraine used them for the first time.
Source. Reuters and the Associated Press reported this with reference to US officials.
According to a Reuters source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the missiles were included in a $300 million military aid package to Ukraine approved on 12 March. He did not specify how many missiles were sent.
The missiles were first used in the early morning hours of 17 April, when they were fired at the Dzhankoy airfield in temporarily occupied Crimea, which is about 165 km from the Ukrainian front line.
An AP source said the strikes also targeted Russian troops in the occupied territory.
The AP sources said that a "significant" number of ATACMS were delivered in March, with more missiles to be provided as part of a new military aid package announced by the Pentagon on Wednesday.
The medium-range ATACMS were first delivered to Ukraine in September last year, Reuters recalls. Initially, the US opposed the delivery of long-range missiles with a range of up to 300 km, fearing that Kyiv would use them to attack Russian territory.
Background. Earlier, Mind reported that, according to CNN, most of the weapons intended for Ukraine from the US aid package are already in warehouses in Germany and Poland, which will speed up the delivery process after the relevant law is approved. Artillery ammunition should be among the first to be delivered.
If you have read this article to the end, we hope that means it was useful for you.
We work to ensure that our journalistic and analytical work is of high quality, and we strive to perform it as competently as possible. This also requires financial independence. Support us for only UAH 196 per month.
Become a Mind subscriber for just USD 5 per month and support the development of independent business journalism!
You can unsubscribe at any time in your LIQPAY account or by sending us an email: [email protected]
