Zelensky Confirms ATACMS Use In Strike On Russian-Controlled Airfields
Ukraine’s President Volodmyr Zelensky confirmed on Tuesday that the Ukrainian military had used Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) in overnight attacks on Russian-controlled military airfields in occupied Luhansk and Berdiansk.
“And today I am especially grateful to the United States”, said Zelensky in the closing remarks of a video address posted on his official social media pages. “Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented. And they are being implemented very accurately – ATACMS have proven themselves.”
Zelensky’s statement followed a report by CNN that the attacks were conducted using the missiles. According to US officials that spoke to CNN, the ATACMS had been quietly sent to Ukraine in order to surprise the Russian military, as the United States was concerned that a public announcement of their delivery would cause the Russians to move equipment and weapons out of the missiles’ range before they could be used.
The morning after the attack on the airfields, Russian bloggers uploaded photographs of the remains of M39 ATACMS missiles used to attack the Berdiansk airfield, alongside photographs of the M74 cluster munitions deployed by the missiles.
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces claimed credit for the strikes, saying that their Operation Dragonfly had destroyed nine Russian helicopters across the airfields attacked, “special equipment” at the airfields, an air defense system, and an ammunition storage building in addition to damage to the runways.
The Russian military and defense ministry have yet to publicly acknowledge the strikes or any casualties, although Russian bloggers close to the military have claimed severe Russian losses.
While public pressure to supply Ukraine with ATACMS missiles had picked up ahead of Zelensky’s September visit to Washington D.C., U.S. President Biden did not directly announce that an agreement to deliver the missiles had been reached following his meeting with Zelensky, nor were they included in the public aid package announced during Zelensky’s visit.
With a range of up to 186 miles, the ground-launched ATACMS has been one of the main items requested by Kyiv in order to provide additional long range strike capability complementing the British Storm Shadow and French SCALP-EG cruise missiles launched from Ukraine’s fleet of Su-24 strike aircraft. However, Washington had been initially reluctant to deliver them out of escalation concerns. Now, the confirmation of the combat use of ATACMS is in turn likely to intensify pressure on the German government to approve Kyiv’s request for aircraft-launched TAURUS cruise missiles.