The United States has been secretly supplying long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in recent weeks.
Several American officials told Reuters and AP journalists about it.
According to one of the officials, the missiles were part of the $300 million military aid package for Ukraine, which US President Joe Biden approved on March 12. At the same time, he did not specify exactly how many missiles were sent.
The official added that ATACMS were first used in the early morning of April 17 — they were launched over a Russian airfield in Crimea. Ukrainian intelligence previously confirmed that on this day the Defense Forces attacked the Dzhankoy air base.
As AP notes, information about the delivery was kept quiet to such an extent that lawmakers and others in recent days demanded that the US send the weapons, not knowing that they were already in Ukraine.
A senior US military official told reporters that the White House and military planners had carefully analyzed the risks of providing long-range weapons to Ukraine and decided the time to provide them was now.
One of APʼs interlocutors added that the Biden administration warned Russia last year that if Moscow acquires and uses long-range ballistic missiles in Ukraine, Washington will provide the same opportunity to Kyiv.
According to the official, Russia received some of these weapons from North Korea and used them on the battlefield in Ukraine. This prompted the Biden administration to give the green light to new long-range missiles.
- On April 24, Biden signed a bill that provides almost $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Details of what exactly the money will be used for are in the Babel infographic.
- On the same day, the Pentagon announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine worth $1 billion.