A senior administration official relays that the missiles have already been used two times to strike deep behind Russian lines.
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In this image provided by the US Army, Staff Sgt. Jimmy Lerma adjusts the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) at Williamson Airfield in Australia, on July 26, 2023 (AP/US Army)
Ukraine secretly received long-range missiles from the United States for the first time in two years – since the start of the war – and Ukraine has already used them twice to strike deep behind Russian lines, Politico reported.
Citing a senior Biden administration official and two US officials, the report by Politico stated that several Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) with a range of nearly 200 miles were delivered, paving the way for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his forces to put more Russian targets at risk.
One of the US officials revealed that the Biden administration intends to include more long-range ATACMS in an upcoming $1 billion package meant for Ukraine, which US President Joe Biden approved on Wednesday.
The senior administration official relayed as well that the two times the ATACMS were used were first against a Russian military base in Crimea and the second against Russian forces east of Berdyansk near the Sea of Azov.
This comes a day after Biden just signed a $95 billion bill of foreign aid to Ukraine, “Israel”, and Taiwan on a day which he called a “good day for world peace,” following the Senate’s passing of the measure in a 79 -18 vote on Tuesday night.
After signing the bill, in his speech, Biden said, “It’s going to make America safer. It’s going to make the world safer,” adding, “It was a difficult path… It should have been easier and it should have gotten there sooner. But in the end, we did what America always does. We rose to the moment, came together, and we got it done.”
Read more: US pushes to deliver military aid to Ukraine before May 9: Politico
The bill includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine, $26.3 billion for “Israel” and controversially for humanitarian relief for civilians, and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region against China.
Biden did not spare a moment to call out “MAGA Republicans” for attempting to block the aid package as well, while he rejected claims that Ukraine is in a losing position, calling it a “fighting force with the will and the skill to win”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said a few days ago that the US is ready to arm Ukraine as long as it takes while neglecting Ukrainian lives, at the stake of ensuring that its proxy continues fighting Russia through terrorist attacks on civilian targets and the killing of journalists.
In its statement, the Ministry declared, “The ruling elites in the US, regardless of party affiliation, are ready to arm the regime in Kiev so that it will be able to fight up till the last Ukrainian and continue, among other things, terrorist attacks on civilian targets on Russian territory, sabotage attacks and killing journalists.”
To preserve the image of US President Joe Biden, the White House has dropped from its “mythical Ukrainian victory” to hoping the Ukrainian army holds out at least until the US elections, the Ministry added.
