Ukraine strikes two air bases in Russian-occupied cities with ATACMS long-range missiles for first time
Ukrainian forces struck two air bases near the Russian-occupied cities of Berdyansk and Luhansk on Oct. 17 with recently secretly supplied ATACMS long-range missiles, marking the first time that the U.S.-provided weapons have been used in the war, U.S. newspaper the Wall Street Journal reported, citing its sources.
The U.S. provided Ukraine with a small number of ATACMS missiles to enable the Ukrainian Armed Forces to launch long-range strikes against Russian positions during a "critical stage of the counter-offensive."
The version of the ATACM missile sent to Kyiv, has a range of approximately 160 kilometers, and is equipped with cluster munitions — smaller bomblets that can do damage over a wide area.
A Ukrainian MP also said the strikes had been carried out by Ukraine with ATACMS.
“ATACMS is already with us,” lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko, wrote on X (Twitter). He said that an airfield in the Russian-controlled city of Berdyansk “was hit by them.”
“Thanks to our partners!” he wrote.
Photos circulating on the Telegram messenger app have been claimed to show undetonated M74 cluster munitions found on the ground at Berdyansk air base, which could also be evidence that Ukraine used ATACAMS missiles recently delivered by the United States to carry out the operation.
Earlier, the Strategic Communications Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported, without giving many details, that overnight on Oct. 16-17 the Ukrainian military successfully attacked helicopters and equipment of the Russian airfields near the temporarily occupied Ukrainian city of Luhansk and the Azov Sea coastal town of Berdyansk, in Donetsk Oblast.
The Fighterbomber Telegram channel, allegedly run by Captain Ilya Tumanov of the Russian Armed Forces, reported losses in equipment and personnel as a result of a Ukrainian strike on one of the Russian airfields, according to a post dated Oct. 17.
"(This was) one of the most serious blows in the history of the special military operation," the Russian’s message reads.
The White House does not rule out providing ATACMS ballistic missiles to Ukraine, John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator for the National Security Council, said in an interview with Voice of America on Oct. 10.
The Pentagon said on Oct. 3 that the U.S. Army was ready to transfer these long-range missiles with cluster warheads to Kyiv as soon as U.S. President Joe Biden made the decision.
Presidents of Ukraine and the United States Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joe Biden held talks at the White House on Sept. 21. The U.S. leader announced a new $325 million military aid package for Ukraine, but without long-range missiles.
UK newspaper the Financial Times wrote that the Biden administration had decided to provide Ukraine with ATACMS missiles before Zelenskyy's visit, but had chosen not to announce it publicly.
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