they hit targets up to 186 miles away. How war could change

The green light has arrived: Ukraine will receive the long-awaited long-range missiles from the United States, after the House of Representatives granted Kiev more than 60 billion dollars in aid. «Today we have a result: everything has been decided in the Atacms negotiations for Ukraine»President Volodymyr Zelensky announced yesterday.

According to Newsweek, a US defense official said it is «premature to discuss the potential size and contents of any package at this time» before Congress gives its approval to the new aid. But on Saturday, the US House of Representatives approved potentially game-changing $60 billion in assistance for Kiev, after the country languished for months in congressional sessions, mired in political infighting.

THE PROMISE

The White House said Monday that President Joe Biden spoke with Zelensky, assuring him that the Biden administration «will rapidly provide significant new security assistance packages» for Kiev’s urgent air defense and battleground needs, once the aid passes through the Senate for presidential signature. «We are ready to respond very quickly if we are ordered to deliver much-needed weapons and ammunition to Ukraine»the defense official told Newsweek.

THE POWER

Atacms – or Army Tactical Missile Systems – are surface-to-surface artillery weapon systems capable of launching missiles that hit targets up to approximately 186 miles away. Ukraine launched its Atacms in October 2023, using a cluster missile variant to strike two Russian bases in Moscow-controlled Ukraine and damage a number of helicopters. Kiev used Atacms missiles with a range of about 100 miles, capable of firing on Russian targets using the High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (Himars) also received from the United States. It’s unclear exactly when the new military aid will hit the front lines, but Senate Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner told CBS on Sunday that parts of the aid package «They will be in transit by the end of the week. In recent months, the Biden administration has been preparing to provide ATACMS to Ukraine». In mid-February, it was reported, that the United States was in favor of sending long-range Atacms to Ukraine to enable attacks on the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula. Long-range strike capabilities have long been a priority for Kiev, along with munitions to keep Ukrainian artillery systems operational and air defense systems to protect Ukraine’s population centers and critical infrastructure.

THE ALARM

Zelensky said earlier this month that Russia was able to fire ten times as many bullets as Ukrainian troops, meaning Moscow «it will reject us every day». He told PBS that air defense systems were unable to intercept all Russian missiles fired at the Trypilska power plant in mid-April because Ukraine «it had no missiles». Russian attacks destroyed the Trypilska plant earlier this month. It was one of the largest power plants in Ukraine and supplied energy to several regions, including Kiev.

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