U.S. supplies Ukraine with long-range surface-to-surface missiles capable of striking Russian-occupied territories from the rear

Delivery time2024-04-25 04:08

State Department “Delivered this month at the direction of the President… will not be disclosed immediately for operational security reasons.”

(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Cho Joon-hyung = On the 24th (local time), the United States has already provided Ukraine with the new ATACMS surface-to-surface missile with a range of 300 km, which some consider to be a weapon that can change the situation of the war in Ukraine. Confirmed.

In response to a related question at a briefing that day, Deputy State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, “The United States provided long-range Atamx missiles to Ukraine under the direction of the President.”

Deputy Spokesperson Patel introduced, “The President quietly instructed the national security team in February to provide ATACMS to Ukraine for use within its territory.”

“They (the national security team) began providing ATACMS as part of the military assistance package we announced on March 12, and those missiles arrived in Ukraine this month,” he said.

Deputy Spokesperson Patel added that the supply of ATACMS missiles was not immediately announced in order to maintain Ukraine’s operational security.

This support was provided before the additional support budget for Ukraine worth 60.8 billion dollars (approximately 84 trillion won) was signed by President Joe Biden on this day and its execution was decided.

The United States provided Ukraine with the ATACMS missile in the second half of last year, but it was an older version for medium-range use, and the one provided this time is a new long-range version with a range of up to 300 km.

The long-range ATACMS is expected to be a weapon that can change the battlefield situation, which has recently become favorable to Russia, in that it can strike deeper into the Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula.

Ukraine repeatedly requested long-range surface-to-surface missiles to strike Russian military facilities and logistics lines in the rear, but the United States did not provide them for a while due to concerns about the possibility of an escalation of war.

In addition, the U.S. government announced on this day that it would provide Ukraine with a weapons and equipment package worth $1 billion (approximately 1.4 trillion won) using the additional aid budget for Ukraine.

The State Department reported that this included anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition for the High-Movement Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), artillery shells, Bradley armored vehicles, and ammunition for aerial precision strikes.

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2024/04/25 04:08 Sent