Long-Range ATACMS Secretly Handed to Ukraine Loom over Crimea Bridge

Ukraine has already used fresh long-range missiles secretly provided by the U.S. in Russian-controlled Crimea, according to a U.S. official, raising questions about the fate of the key Crimean Bridge that has long been in Kyiv's sights.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Wednesday that President Joe Biden had authorized sending a "significant number of ATACMS missiles" to Ukraine in February.

They were part of a $300 million aid package announced in mid-March, and they have already arrived in Ukraine for use within Ukraine's borders, he said. "We've already sent some, we will send more now that we have additional authority and money," Sullivan said.

The U.S. had already provided medium-range versions of ATACMS missiles, also known as the U.S. military's Army Tactical Missile System, which Ukraine debuted in a dramatic strike on two Russian airbases in Moscow-controlled Ukraine in October 2023.

ATACMS have long featured high up on Ukraine's aid wish list, giving Kyiv's troops the firepower to strike high-value Russian assets far behind the frontlines. They beef up Ukraine's long-range capabilities, alongside newly-committed batches of British Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles.

The U.S. did not publicly announce the delivery of ATACMS because of a Ukrainian request for "operational security," said U.S. State Department spokesperson, Vedant Patel.

The new missiles can strike further away, and Kyiv has already used them to hit a Russian military base in Crimea this month and Russian forces near the Russian-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Berdiansk, Politico and Reuters reported, citing anonymous U.S. officials.

Ukraine targeted a Russian air base in Dzhankoy, a key Russian logistics hub in northern Crimea, on April 17, prompting speculation about the possible use of ATACMS.

But Ukraine's eyes have been fixed further east than Dzhankoy, on the Crimean Bridge that links Russia's mainland with the eastern section of the Russian-annexed peninsula.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the road and rail bridge, also referred to as the Kerch Bridge, in the more than two years of all-out war in attempts to halt Russian military resupplies to Crimea and up through southern mainland Ukraine.

On Sunday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Ukraine is "going to have more weapons but we also want them to have new weapons," adding to Fox News that they will secure "ATACMS to knock the bridge down between Crimea and Russia."

On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an aid package worth more than $60 billion that had been bogged down in political infighting for months. It has since passed the Senate and was signed off by Biden on Wednesday.

The Pentagon unveiled a weapons package worth $1 billion on Wednesday, addressing Ukraine's "most urgent requirements." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that long-range capabilities were one of Kyiv's pressing priorities as it contends with deep shell and missile hunger.

It is not clear how many ATACMS have been sent, or will arrive in Ukraine in the coming days and weeks.

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