Two Western officials said the United States had sent about 20 of the missiles to Ukraine. At the same time, the delivery of the MGM-140 missiles to Ukraine was carried out in strict secrecy due to concerns that Russia might attack the transport carrying these missiles along the route.
This is mentioned in The New York Times publication.
Read more: Ukraine’s Military Targeted ATACMS Missiles at russian Airfields For the First Time in History
According to reports, the actual delivery of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine occurred only 'in the last few days' after U.S. President Joseph Biden overcame his reluctance and authorized the Pentagon to transfer such weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It is claimed that one of the conditions put on the Ukrainians is that the ATACMS may not be used to attack inside Russian territory: "Ukraine has pledged to not fire the American ATACMS into Russia’s internationally recognized borders, assurances it also gave when Britain and France donated their long-range missiles."
It is also noted that even though Ukraine was provided with "missiles of limited range" (obviously, here we have a simplified reference to the characteristics of the M39 version with a firing range of up to 160 kilometers – ed.), this launch range should be entirely sufficient to "cover" all Russian airfields located in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
The article claims that the Pentagon did not dare to provide the Ukrainian military with M57 version missiles, featuring a unitary warhead weighing 227 kilograms and a firing range of up to 300 kilometers, because the stocks of such missiles are allegedly extremely limited.
As well as, that the ATACMS missiles are the second type of cluster weapon the U.S. is known to have provided to Ukraine. In July, the Biden administration began supplying Ukraine with 155-millimeter artillery shells that each contain 72 smaller submunitions designed for destroying armored vehicles and enemy soldiers.
As Defense Express reported, that New Details About Strikes on Airfields in Luhansk and Berdyansk Revealed: How Many and Which Targets Were Destroyed
Read more: ATACMS it Was: New Photos Show the Missile Engine Found on Ruins of Russian Air Base in Berdiansk
