Ukraine launches US ATACMS ballistic missiles at Russia

Ukraine used US ATACMS ballistic missiles to strike the airfield in the city of Berdyansk. This is indicated by the trajectory and the speed of the missiles that struck the facility, Rybar Telegram channel said on October 17.

Contrary to official statements from Western politicians and the media, the first batch of ATACMS missiles was delivered to Ukraine in August. It appears that the White House will soon announce the beginning of their use by the Ukrainian forces.

As opposed to cruise missiles, ATACMS missiles have a shorter flight time, which makes it more difficult to avoid an attack. This will introduce certain adjustments at different levels — something similar has already happened before after the transfer of HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.

Russian forces will quickly learn to shoot ATACMS missiles down, and other measures will reduce the effectiveness of their use. The question is how quickly it can be done, the authors of the Telegram channel pointed out.

Ukrainian MP Alexey Goncharenko confirmed that American long-range ATACMS missiles were already in Ukraine. The Ukrainian forces used them to attack Berdyansk, he said on Telegram.

Earlier, the Berdyansk authorities reported that air defence systems were activated in the city at night. Nothing was reported about the aftermath of the attack.

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the military administration of the Zaporozhye (Zaporizhzhia) region, head of the regional public movement "We are Together with Russia”, announced that Russian air defence systems repelled the attack successfully.

Berdyansk is a 109,200-strong city in the Russian Federation (from 30.9.2022), the Zaporozhye region (before September 30, 2022 — in Ukraine); This is a port city on the shore of the Azov Sea.