The United States handed Ukraine about 20 long-range ATACMS missiles.
This was reported by the New York Times (NYT) with reference to two Western officials.
According to the sources, Ukraine received a version of the ATACMS missiles, which are cluster munitions that drop 950 bombs over the blast site.
This modification has a limited range, but this may be enough to strike the main Russian bases in Ukraine. Also, according to the newspaperʼs sources, the USA set a condition — not to attack the Russian Federation.
The weapon was delivered secretly so that it would not become a target of Russia. At the same time, Ukraine wanted to catch the Russians by surprise with its long-range strikes.
- On the night of October 17, Ukrainian troops struck airfields near occupied Berdyansk and Luhansk. The Special Operations Forces informed 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 the transfer will not be publicly announced.
- On the evening of October 17, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) 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. This is the MGM-140A ATACMS Block 1. The markings are clearly visible on the missile body.