President Joe Biden quietly directed his national security team to provide the long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Ukraine as part of the security aid package announced in March and those munitions arrived in April, a Pentagon spokesperson told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"Yes, I can confirm the United States provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMS at the president’s direction," the spokesperson said. "He [Biden] quietly directed his national security team to send ATACMS to Ukraine for use inside Ukrainian sovereign territory in February. They started moving as part of the military aid package we announced on March 12th and those missiles arrived in Ukraine this month."
The United States was discreet about supplying the ATACMS at that time in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine, the spokesperson added.
Furthermore, the US will send more ATACMS long-range missiles to Ukraine now that the national security supplemental package has been passed, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday.
"We've already sent some; we will send more now that we have additional authority and money," Sullivan said during a press briefing.
Sullivan added that there is now a significant number of ATACMS coming off the production line and entering US stocks. As a result, the US can move forward with supplying the artillery systems to Ukraine while sustaining the readiness of the US armed forces, he stated.
However, these supplies will not change the situation, as Russia has experience in destroying almost all NATO missiles, Yan Gagin, advisor to the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
"Our air defense has already encountered these targets, there is successful experience in destroying ATACMS missiles. But they are unlikely to seriously change the situation at the front, they were successfully destroyed earlier [...] I will say even more — our air defense forces have already gained experience in destroying practically all NATO missiles," Gagin said.
Furthermore, earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the US's new military aid package for Kiev would not change the situation on the battlefield and would only increase Ukraine's military losses.