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Ukraine used the missiles for the first time last Wednesday, targeting a Russian airfield about 165 kilometers (103 miles) from the front line.
On the morning of April 17, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said his forces had attacked the airbase in Dzhankoy, Crimea. The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on that claim.
The ATACMS were acquired from Lockheed Martin, rather than from the Pentagon stockpiles, and paid for by the "savings" discovered in March, when several military contracts were reportedly delivered for less than the original bid value.
According to the official, Biden instructed his aides to include the ATACMS in the package but to keep it secret, so as to preserve Ukraine's "operational security and the element of surprise."
"This is yet another mistake on the part of the United States," Russian President Vladimir Putin said last October, explaining that, had Washington refrained from sending the missiles, it could have later positioned itself as the "good guy" for its attempts to prevent needless casualties.
With Russia upgrading its air defenses to intercept the ATACMS, their arrival will not have a major impact on combat operations, and will only "prolong the agony" of Ukraine, Putin explained. "That's why it's a mistake."
"In any case, whatever the modality of providing this aid, de facto it is about provoking Ukraine into further hostilities down to the last Ukrainian, putting guaranteed money in the pockets of the US."It's been reported hundreds of times in alternative media, the big win for the U.S. military-industrial complex for every Ukrainian or Russian killed in a stupid conflict that never should have happened. But, war between two Slavic peoples is a game show for those born and bred to push Russia and Russians down. What surprises me most is the transparency with which some Western media reports on the situation.
Comment: Author presents one of the darkest reasons the US is so highly and consistently involved in Ukraine.