The U.S. provided Ukraine with the powerful ballistic missiles this month but did not reveal it publicly for operational security reasons, a National Security Council spokesperson said.
The U.S.
provided Ukraine with powerful long-range ballistic missiles for the first time
earlier this month, and its military has already used them twice in the last
week against Russian forces, according to three U.S. officials.
The
first strike was about 100 miles inside Crimea’s border on the morning of April
17, targeting a Russian military airfield, according to the officials. The
Ukrainian military used the U.S.-provided Army Tactical Missile System, known
as ATACMS, for the second time Tuesday night, targeting Russian forces east of
the southeastern Ukrainian town of Berdyansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, officials
said.
The
Biden administration has not previously acknowledged sending ATACMS to Ukraine,
but a National Security Council spokesperson confirmed that the U.S. has
provided them. They were part of the $300 million military aid package unveiled
March 12.
The NSC
spokesperson said the administration did not reveal at the time that it was
sending Ukraine the long-range missiles for operational security reasons.
President Joe Biden directed his national security team to send the ATACMS to
Ukraine secretly, the spokesperson said.
The
powerful missiles have a range up to 300 kilometers (about 187 miles) and allow
Ukraine to strike the Russian military throughout Crimea and in occupied parts
of eastern Ukraine that had been difficult to reach. The U.S.-provided ATACMS
included both warheads with cluster munitions and with unitary blast
fragmentation.
The
revelation that Ukraine has used the long-range ATACMS came as Biden signed
into law a foreign aid package providing billions of dollars in weapons and
support to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The measure, which will provide about
$61 billion for Ukraine, was hung up for months due to opposition in the
Republican-led House.
The
Biden administration was already preparing a military aid package for Ukraine
worth more than $1 billion, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the
planning. It will include a range of equipment that the U.S. has already
provided Ukraine, including ammunition, stinger missiles, artillery rounds,
infantry fighting vehicles and other military equipment, the officials said.
NBC News
was first to report in February that the Biden administration was planning to
provide ATACMS to Ukraine.
Late
last year, the U.S. began to supply Ukraine with the missiles, but until now
they had limited the shipments to older medium-range models amid concerns that
taking the longer-range ones from U.S. stockpiles could endanger military
readiness. In early February, the U.S. Army presented a plan to buy new ATACMS
directly from industry and send ones in storage to Ukraine, and the Biden
administration approved.
The
White House also concealed the decision to send the medium-range ATACMS in
2023, acknowledging it only after Ukraine used them in combat. Administration
officials also cited operational security as the reason for its secrecy.
The
Biden administration had resisted sending the long-range missiles over the past
two years because officials worried Ukraine would use them to strike inside
Crimea or Russia and prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to escalate the
conflict. White House and Pentagon officials have expressed similar concerns
about other sophisticated weapons systems but have repeatedly decided to
provide them to Ukraine.
But
after multiple warnings to Russia not to use long-range weapons inside Ukraine
and to stop attacking Ukrainian energy grids went unheeded, the White House
decided to give Ukraine the same capabilities.
An NSC
spokesperson said Biden directed his team to send the ATACMS after North Korea
provided Russia with ballistic missiles that have now been used in Ukraine and
after Russia has repeatedly attacked civilian infrastructure inside Ukraine.
The U.S.
imposed limitations on the use of the long-range systems, including that they
cannot be used to strike inside Russia and must be used within sovereign
Ukrainian territory, which, according to the U.S. government, includes Crimea.
Testifying
before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense last week, Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that without funding for more weapons to Ukraine,
Russia is gaining the upper hand.
"We’re
seeing the Ukrainians be challenged in terms of holding the line — they’re
doing a very good job, a credible job — but in order to continue to do that,
they’re going to need the right materials, the right munitions, the weapons to
be able to do that," Austin said.
An NSC
spokesperson said more military aid will provide a boost to Ukraine on the
battlefield, but it cannot turn the tide of the war alone. Ukraine is running
low on munitions and equipment, while Russia continues to launch waves of
drones and missiles, the spokesperson said.
Speaking
on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy said the new aid will give the country a chance at “victory” as it
defends itself from Russia.
“I think
this support will really strengthen the armed forces, I pray, and we will have
a chance at victory if Ukraine really gets the weapons system, which we need so
much, which thousands of soldiers need so much,” he said.
***Courtney
Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC
News Investigative Unit.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna148309