The United States has quietly supplied long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine as part of a military support package in March, and Ukraine has utilized the weapons on two occasions, according to US officials. These missiles have an extended range of up to 300km (186 miles), almost double that of the mid-range ATACMS that the US began providing towards the end of last year.
Washington had initially hesitated to provide Ukraine with the longer-range missiles due to concerns that they could be used against targets deep inside Russian territory and escalate the conflict. However, in February, President Biden approved the delivery of the missiles, and a “significant” number was included in a $300m aid package announced the following month. “We’ve already sent some, we will send more,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated to reporters.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel clarified that the delivery had not been publicly announced “in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine at their request.” Neither official provided the exact number of ATACMS sent.
Ukraine has been compelled to ration its weapons due to a prolonged delay in the approval of a $61bn military assistance package, which was finally passed in the US this week. ATACMS are anticipated to be included in the initial $1bn tranche of that aid package. The weapons delivered this month were deployed on April 17 to strike an airfield in Dzhankoi in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. They were also used this week against Russian forces in southeastern Ukraine, near the occupied city of Berdyansk.
Admiral Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated that the White House and military planners had meticulously assessed the risks associated with providing long-range weaponry to Ukraine and concluded that the timing was appropriate. The weapons were supplied on the condition that they be used exclusively within Ukrainian sovereign territory.
“I think the time is right, and the boss [President Biden] made the decision the time is right to provide these based on where the fight is right now,” Grady stated.
A US official disclosed to Reuters news agency that Russia’s utilization of North Korean-supplied long-range ballistic missiles against Ukraine in December and January prompted the change in stance. Russia’s continued targeting of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure also raised concerns.
“We warned Russia about those things,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They renewed their targeting.”
The protracted delay in US funding and weapons deliveries has afforded Russia the opportunity to leverage its advantage in firepower and personnel to intensify attacks across the front line in eastern Ukraine, where it claims to have seized control of several settlements this month. Russia has increasingly employed satellite-guided gliding bombs, dropped from aircraft at a safe distance, to bombard Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian officials have not publicly acknowledged the receipt or use of long-range ATACMS. However, in expressing gratitude to Congress for passing the new aid bill, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the significance of such weaponry to the war effort. “Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, artillery and air defense are extremely important tools for the quick restoration of a just peace,” he wrote on social media platform X.
