“The New York Times, with reference to American officials, writes that Ukraine is limiting the use of ATACMS missiles due to the depletion of stocks and the probable change in the policy of the newly elected US President Donald Trump regarding the authorization of strikes deep into the Russian Federation Source: The New York Times Details: The publication reports that in the spring of the United States transferred to Ukraine about 500 ATACMS missiles from the Pentagon warehouses.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: The New York Times
Details: The publication reports that in the spring, the United States handed Ukraine about 500 ATACMS missiles from the Pentagon warehouses.
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Initially, Ukraine did not have permission to use these missiles for strikes on the territory of Russia, so they were used to hit targets in the occupied territories, in particular in Crimea.
However, in mid-November, the administration of US President Joe Biden allowed Kyiv to use these missiles for strikes deep into the territory of the Russian Federation. The publication notes that at that time only “dozens of missiles” remained in Ukraine – probably about 50.
As The New York Times writes with reference to two American officials, the possibility of obtaining additional missiles has actually been exhausted. Limited stocks of these weapons have already been directed to meet the needs of the Middle East and Asian regions.
Great Britain, which after Biden’s decision also allowed Ukraine to use its long-range Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory, recently said that its stocks of these missiles are also extremely limited.
The publication also notes that the situation is unlikely to be changed by Donald Trump, who recently stated in an interview with Time that he categorically disagrees with Ukraine’s use of ATACMS missiles on Russian territory. Trump called the decision of the Biden administration to provide these missiles “stupid”.
The Kremlin responded the next day, saying that Trump’s position “completely coincides” with Moscow’s views.
According to The New York Times, based on information from the Russian Ministry of Defense and military bloggers, after receiving permission from the US and Great Britain, Ukraine launched at least six missile strikes, using no less than 31 ATACMS and 14 Storm Shadow missiles.
The Ukrainian military does not comment on the use of these missiles, but neither the US nor Ukraine has denied the published figures, the publication notes.
In addition, the publication cites the words of officials and analysts who call the Storm Shadow strike on November 20 on the Russian command bunker near the village of Maryino in the Kursk region one of the most effective.
The next day, Russia launched its new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile over the Dnieper. On November 27, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, General Valery Gerasimov, held a telephone conversation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, General Charles Brown, to discuss “concerns about the risks of further escalation.”
“After this conversation, Ukraine did not use ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles for two weeks. During the same period, Russia reduced the number of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, although Putin threatened to launch Oreshnik on Kiev if Ukraine did not stop using ATACMS on Russian territory.” , – writes The New York Times.
Despite public threats, Putin is trying to react cautiously to Ukrainian operations, US officials say. In their opinion, Moscow will probably not respond to the US long-range missile strikes, so as not to drag Washington into the war.
At the same time, American officials believe that Ukraine could better choose targets to hit with American ATACMS missiles, the supply of which is allegedly running out.
The NYT quotes Mykola Beleskov, a military analyst at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, who explains: “We decided to wait and look for high-value targets. We should not expect quick results, because we need to preserve this potential and use it as thoughtfully as possible.”
What preceded:
- On November 17, The New York Times reported that the current US President Joe Biden for the first time allowed the Ukrainian military to use long-range ATACMS missiles to strike the territory of Russia. Depending on the modification, they can have a range of 140 to 300 km.
- On the night of November 19, the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck the territory of Russia with American long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time.