Missile Systems Quietly Shipped from US to Ukraine

(AmericanProsperity,.com) – According to an ABC News October 18 report, Ukraine’s armed forces used US-supplied long-range ATAMCS missiles for the first time in its armed conflict with Russia. The Biden administration has been quietly delivering these missiles to Ukraine, following months of negotiations between US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Back in September Biden administration officials told reporters that the White House would send a small number of these ATAMCS missiles to Ukraine. However, no announcement was made and some media outlets reported that the Ukrainian government feared that Washington wouldn’t fulfill this promise.

Kyiv and Moscow sources told ABC News that the Ukrainian military hit two Russian airbases in the Russian-occupied territories of Luganks in southeast Ukraine and Berdyansk, in the country’s southern region. In a statement, Ukraine’s General Staff announced that the two missile strikes destroyed an ammunition dump, an air defense system, and nine Russian helicopters. It added that this attack managed to cause “massive damage” in the airfield’s runways. Following this statement, a Russian pro-Kremlin blogger claimed these attacks were the “most serious” that Russian military aviation has suffered since the beginning of the war in February 2022.

During his evening address, Zelensky confirmed that these American-made missiles were used in the attacks against the Russian airfields, and thanked the United States for its help. He added that Ukraine’s agreements with Washington are “being implemented” and pointed out that the ATACMS “has proven” to be lethal and effective.

These Army Tactical Missile Systems come in numerous varieties, depending on the type of military operation. It also comes in ranges from 160 to 305 kilometers. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the version that the Biden administration has given to the Ukrainian military forces had roughly 160 kilometers. However, the newspaper pointed out this is more than twice as far as the ammunition that the United States has been delivering to Kyiv since the war started.