Huge blow for Putin as Biden secretly gives Ukraine ‘game-changing’ weapons in £240m deal
Ukraine is facing an ammunition shortage after the US House of Representatives delayed a major aid package for months.
Vladimir Putin was dealt a huge blow as Ukraine has been secretly supplied with long-range ballistic missiles - and has already used them to strike Russian targets.
These long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) were part of a £240million aid package approved by US President Joe Biden in March and reached Ukraine this month.
The US President reportedly approved sending this type of weapon to struggling Ukraine as far back as February.
The long-range ATACMS can travel up to 186 miles. The US had previously supplied Ukraine only with medium-range ATACMS and had been reluctant to provide the war-torn country with anything more powerful.
Confirming the delivery of the powerful ATACMS, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said: "I can confirm that the United States provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS at the president's direct direction."
He explained Washington had not immediately announced the delivery of the long-range missiles "to maintain operational security for Ukraine at their request".
It is not yet clear how many of these weapons have been sent, but the US has already suggested the intention of sending more.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stressed how game-changing these weapons could be on the Ukrainian battlefield.
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He said: "They will make a difference. But as I've said before at this podium... there is no silver bullet."
These ATACMS were reportedly fired for the first time last week to strike the Dzhankoi Russian military airfield in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula illegally occupied by Russia since 2014.
This delivery, alongside the approval in the US Congress this week of a massive military aid package worth nearly £50billion will provide Ukraine with a boost following months of ammunition shortages, which made it more difficult to protect cities and sensitive infrastructure from the constant Russian airstrikes and defend the frontline.
As Ukraine is hoping for a swift delivery of the latest US aid package, Russia appears to be pushing forward, possibly trying to make territorial gain in the Donetsk region before Western help reaches the frontline.
Earlier this week Russian reports claimed Moscow's troops entered the Ocheretyne area, located northwest of Avdiivka, following a 10-day-long advance of 3.1 miles.
The local Ukrainian military command maintains Russians only took over a few buildings and the southern part of the key town, once home to 3,000 people, but conceded the situation was "difficult".
