Ukraine Attacks Military Targets In Russia With US-Suppressed ATACMS Missiles

Illustration of MGM-140 ATACMS missile launch training. (Wikimedia Commons/Sinthia Rosario)

JAKARTA - Ukraine's military on Tuesday said it managed to strike a military target in Russian territory with the US-backed ATACMS tudal, calling it a "significant development."

Ukraine previously did not publicly state that it used a state-of-the-art ballistic missile system supplied by the US against targets within Russia, although the restrictions have been lifted by US President Joe Biden's Administration.

"The use of long-range attack capabilities, including systems such as ATACMS, will continue," the Ukrainian military general staff said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kyiv received the ATACMS system in 2023, but was initially limited to using it only in its own territory, which is nearly a fifth occupied by Russia.

The United States president, Joe Biden, lifted the restrictions in November 2024, a move that was initially criticized by his successor, Donald Trump.

Recently, Ukraine is known to have asked for a US-made Tomahawk missile with a range of 2,500 km (1,550 miles), intending to force Russia to negotiate.

Although President Trump initially considered selling him to Kyiv, in November he said he "wasn't really" considering the move.