Russia Will Push Ukrainian Troops And Expand Supporting Zones If US Sends Long-range Missiles

Dmitry Peskov. (Wikimedia Commons/men's

JAKARTA - The Kremlin on Wednesday said Russia would push Ukrainian troops further back and expand what it considers a "barrier zone" if Kyiv receives a shipment of ATACMS advanced missile systems from the United States.

The White House last October said it had given Kyiv ATACMS a target of up to 165 kilometers (102 miles).

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said Kyiv would receive long-range ATACMS and thanked Washington.

However, the new aid package for Uncle Sam's country, which is being prepared after the long-delayed draft aid law was approved by Congress, is expected to cover ATACMS with a longer range, up to 300 km (186 miles).

This increases the possibility of Ukraine using these missiles to attack deeper targets in territory controlled by Russian forces, particularly in Russia's annexed Crimea.

When asked on Wednesday about the move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia's stance, which has been put forward several times, has not changed.

"There is no change in this," Peskov said, quoted by Reuters on April 25.

Last month, the Kremlin said the only way to protect Russian territory from the Ukrainian attack, which they said covered four areas Moscow had annexed from Ukraine, was to have a "barrier zone" so the region was beyond Ukraine's firing range.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last year Russian troops would respond to the delivery of Western long-range weapons to Kyiv by trying to push Ukrainian troops further from its borders.

Most recently, the United States has secretly delivered long-range missiles to Ukraine for use in fighting Russia in recent weeks, twice used in attacks, an official said Wednesday.

The missiles were included in the US$300 million military aid package for Ukraine approved by US President Joe Biden on March 12, US officials who did not want to be named, without specifying how many missiles were shipped.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters, confirming "a large number" of missiles had been delivered to Ukraine and saying "we will send more."

He said Ukraine had committed to using only weapons in Ukrainian territory, not in Russia.

Some of the missiles were included in a $1 billion worth of weapons packages for Ukraine approved by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Sullivan said.

The missiles were used for the first time in the early hours of April 17, launched to a Russian airfield in Crimea about 165 km (103 miles) from Ukraine's front line, the official said.

The official said Ukraine used the weapon for the second time overnight against Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine.

It is known that ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) is mounted on trucks and can travel at Mach 3 speeds much faster than the British and French cruise missiles currently in Ukraine's arsenal.