Ukraine’s forces struck two air bases in Russian-held territory on Tuesday with American-supplied long-range missiles that were one of the last major weapons systems that Kyiv had sought from the United States, according to two American officials and a Ukrainian parliamentarian who posted about the attack on social media.
They were the first strikes with a weapon known as ATACMS — for advanced, long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems — that President Biden was long reluctant to provide for fear it could escalate the conflict with Russia.
But Mr. Biden told President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine during a visit to the White House in September that he had agreed to provide the missiles, albeit a version limited in range, according to officials familiar with the conversation.
“ATACMS is already with us,” a Ukrainian lawmaker, Oleksiy Goncharenko, wrote Tuesday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
He said that an airfield in the Russian-controlled city of Berdiansk “was hit by them.”
Persons:
Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, ATACMS, ”, Oleksiy Goncharenko, Berdiansk “
Organizations:
Tactical Missile Systems, White House, Twitter
Locations:
Russian, United States, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Berdiansk