Ukraine used ATACMS missiles given by US against Russia, confirms Zelenskiy

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, claimed on Tuesday that Kiev had employed long-range Army Tacticle Missile System (ATACMS) missiles supplied by the United States.

In the belief that the missiles would improve Ukraine’s ability to target and damage supply lines, air bases, and rail networks in Russian-occupied area that could not be reached by short-range equipment, Kyiv has sought the U.S. administration for ATACMS on numerous occasions.

“Today, special thanks to the United States. Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented. Very accurately – ATACMS missiles proved themselves,” he said in his nightly address.

This is the ATACMS’s first publicly acknowledged use in Ukraine and it has a maximum flight range of 190 miles (306 km).

The Russian airfields in the cities of Luhansk and Berdiansk, which are held by Moscow, were reportedly attacked by two Ukrainian military strikes earlier on Tuesday.

Its reports stated that nine helicopters, an air defence missile launcher, and other tools had been destroyed, runways had been damaged, and Russian forces had suffered significant losses. The assaults were not mentioned by the Russian Defence Ministry.

(With agency inputs)