Ukraine strikes Russian targets using US ATACMS missiles in first public acknowledgment

Ukraine’s military on Tuesday said that it had struck military targets inside Russia using US-supplied ATACMS missiles, calling the operation a “significant development.”

According to a Reuters report, the move marks the first time Ukraine has publicly acknowledged using the advanced US-provided ballistic missile systems against Russian territory, even though the restriction on such strikes was lifted by the outgoing Biden administration a year ago.

“The use of long-range strike capabilities, including systems such as ATACMS, will continue,” Reuters quoted the military general staff as saying in a statement on Tuesday.

Kyiv received the US-supplied systems in 2023 but was initially limited to using them only within its own territory, nearly a fifth of which remains occupied by Russia.

Then-President Joe Biden lifted those restrictions in November 2024, a decision that was initially criticised by his successor, Donald Trump.

Ukraine has also requested US-made Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles), arguing that they could help pressure Russia into negotiations.

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Although Trump briefly considered the idea of providing the missiles to Kyiv, he said in November that he was “not really” pursuing the plan.

With inputs from agencies