Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the use of long-range ATACMS missiles in Ukraine. Presumably, they hit the airfield of occupied Berdyansk on the night of October 17.
"Today is a special day of gratitude to the United States. Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented. They are executed very accurately — the "ATACMS" have shown themselves," he said.
ATACMS are guided ballistic missiles capable of accurately hitting targets at a distance of 165 to 310 kilometers, depending on the modification. These missiles are launched from M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS.
- On the night of October 17, Ukrainian troops struck airfields near occupied Berdyansk and Luhansk. The Special Operations Forces said that 9 helicopters of various modifications, special equipment, an air defense launcher, and ammunition depots were destroyed at both airfields. Runways were also damaged.
- Subsequently, the Russian public and military personnel began to distribute a photo of a cluster submunition found at the site of an airfield strike in Berdyansk. It is very similar to the M74 cluster found in ATACMS missiles.
- Earlier, the Western media wrote that Joe Bidenʼs administration decided to transfer a small number of cassette ATACMS to Ukraine, but they will not publicly announce the transfer.
- On the evening of October 17, The Wall Street Journal confirmed Ukraineʼs use of long-range ATACMS missiles. Citing sources, they indicated that the US secretly sent a small batch of missiles with a range of about 160 kilometers. This range of damage (up to 165 km) has the basic version of the MGM-140A ATACMS Block 1 with a cluster warhead consisting of 950 bombs of the M74 type.
- Meanwhile, the Russian military has published another batch of photos of the wreckage of the missile that attacked the Berdyansk airfield. It is MGM-140A ATACMS Block 1 after all. The markings are clearly visible on the missile body.