could render Crimea ‘militarily worthless’

Last week, The New York Times reported that the United States had secretly transferred about 100 tactical missile systems, known as ATACMS, to Ukraine, and that the country had already begun using them.

The U.S. previously sent shorter-range ATACMS that helped Ukraine fight last fall. However, recently launched versions can fly about 300 km, which puts higher value targets in the Ukrainian crosshairs.

This includes Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014. and which is crucial to its military strategy in Ukraine.

Philip Karber, a military analyst with expertise in Ukraine, told RFE/RL that “the introduction of ATACMS is a major breakthrough.”

He said the weapons “could essentially render Crimea militarily worthless.”

Crimea is home to the advanced port of Sevastopol, home to the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The region is also an important logistics hub and route for military supplies to occupied southern Ukraine, and has been the site of a number of devastating Russian missile and drone attacks.

Ukraine has dealt many blows to Crimea in the past – severely weakening the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the port of Sevastopol and periodically targeting the strategically important Kerch Bridge connecting the peninsula with Russia.

The strikes were carried out with a variety of weapons, including aerial and naval drones and possibly Storm Shadow missiles supplied by the United Kingdom and France.

However, as reported by Radio Free Europe, ATACMS has a significant advantage over Storm Shadow – they travel much faster.

In mid-April, Ukraine said it struck the Dzhankoy military base in northern Crimea, which also housed a valuable S-400 anti-aircraft defense launcher, but did not specify what weapon was used. A senior US official later told the Times that it was one of the targets of Ukraine’s ATACMS.

Last month, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the US Congress to agree on an aid package for Ukraine, he pointed to ATACMS as the main weapon used to target Crimean airports.

“Once Russia knows we can destroy these planes, they won’t attack from Crimea,” V. Zelensky told The Washington Post.

Based on Business Insider.