Amid the Ukraine army’s seemingly stalled counter-offensive due to impenetrable Russian defensive lines and air superiority comes good news.
Kyiv forces have used United States-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles for the first time with very good result.
“They have performed very accurately ATACMS have proven themselves,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Tuesday evening address posted on social media.
“Today, a special thanks to the United States,” Zelensky said in a video message. “Our agreements with President Biden are being implemented.”
Zelensky did not give details of when or where the ATACMS were used.
The White House confirmed the delivery of the missiles for the first time in an official statement.
ATACMS have a maximum range of around 300 kilometers but the version “recently” sent to Ukraine had a lower range of 165 kilometers, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Zelensky’s announcement came after Ukraine’s military hit Berdyansk and eastern Lugansk airfields in the Russian-occupied south and east of the country overnight that destroyed several helicopters.
Kyiv also said that an air defense launcher and an ammunition warehouse were destroyed while runways were damaged. It also claimed Russian forces had suffered losses in the operation.
Russian officials had claimed earlier on Tuesday that the US-supplied missiles had been used in the attack on Berdyansk.
A Moscow-backed official in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov, said on Telegram that fragments of ATACMS missiles had been found at the site of the strike.
An influential Russian Telegram channel, Rybar, which has close ties with Moscow’s forces, also alleged ATACMS missiles were used in the attack.
Kyiv has for months asked the West to supply it with long-range weapons for its counteroffensive, which has been slower than expected.