WASHINGTON-
Ukraine has for the first time begun using long-range ballistic missiles secretly provided by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The new missiles, long sought by Ukrainian leaders, give Ukraine almost double the strike range – up to 300 kilometers (190 miles) – that it had with the medium-range version of the weapon it received from the United States last October. . One of the officials said the United States is providing more of these missiles in a new military aid package signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
Biden approved the delivery of the Army’s long-range Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, in early March, and the United States included a “significant” number of them in a $300 million aid package announced at the time. said an official.
The two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delivery before it was made public, did not provide the exact number of missiles delivered last month or in the latest aid package, which amounts to about $1 billion. .
Ukraine has been forced to ration its weapons and faces increasing Russian attacks. Ukraine had been begging for the long-range system because the missiles provide a critical capability to strike Russian targets that are further away, allowing Ukrainian forces to stay safely out of range.
Information about the delivery has remained so quiet that in recent days lawmakers and others have been demanding that the United States send the weapons, unaware that they were already in Ukraine.