U.S. Secretly Sent ATACMS To Ukraine: Quantity Reveald

The New York Times revealed the details.

In March, Ukraine secretly received more than 100 ATACMS long-range missiles and a large number of cluster munitions from the United States as part of a $300 million aid package, the New York Times reported, citing a senior American official.

It is noted that this assistance was provided after US President Joe Biden secretly approved the transfer of ATACMS in February.

Before that, the United States sent ATACMS to Ukraine with a range of 100 miles (about 165 km). However, Ukraine has long asked for missiles that can cover 190 miles (more than 300 km), the NYT writes.

Ukraine, in particular, hit the Russian military airfield in Dzhankoi in Crimea with missiles received in March, destroying Russian S-300 and S-400 systems, as well as Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine last week, the NYT source said.

White House officials kept this aid secret so as not to inform the Russians, who could pull back their forces and hide the depots. Representatives of the Biden administration noted that the March package of weapons was a temporary measure to provide Ukraine with ammunition for only a few weeks.

Additional longer-range missiles were also included in the $60.8 billion aid to Ukraine approved by Congress and signed by the US president.

On April 24, United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that in February, Biden instructed to provide Ukraine with ATACMS missiles in “significant numbers.” However, he did not give the exact figure. This happened after Russia used North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukraine, as well as increased attacks on civilian infrastructure.

The transfer of missiles began as part of an aid package announced by the United States on March 12, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the United States Department of State Vedant Patel said.