Russia shoots down 6 US-made ATACMS missiles launched by Ukraine

Russia says it has managed to shoot down at least six US-made ATACMS missiles launched by Ukraine toward Crimea.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian defense ministry said that Ukrainian forces launched a missile attack against the Crimean Peninsula overnight but Russian air defense systems intercepted six US-made MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles over the region.

“Ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, six ATACMS tactical missiles manufactured by the United States and two guided 'Hammer' aircraft bombs manufactured by France were shot down by air defenses,” the ministry said.

It was revealed on April 24 that Washington had shipped long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. The newly-shipped missiles have nearly double the range of the mid-range ATACMS that the US began sending to Ukraine toward the end of last year.

The long-range ATACMS missiles were reportedly used for the first time in the early hours of April 17, against a Russian airfield in Crimea that was about 165 kilometers from the Ukrainian front lines.

According to Sergei Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, one of the missiles was downed in the village of Donskoye, outside the main city of Simferopol.

“After an ATACMS missile was shot down, undetonated sub-munitions scattered. If you find such a weapon, do not pick it up or come close and call emergency services or the police,” he warned.

US secretly shipped long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in recent weeks for use against Russia: Official

The US has sent long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in recent weeks for use against Russia, an American official says.

Kiev has repeatedly urged its Western allies to provide it with long-range ATACMS missiles, which have a range of about 300 kilometers, roughly four times the range of the missiles used by the mobile HIMARS systems that the US began sending to Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine says the ATACMS missiles will help its forces strike Russian positions far behind the front lines.

Separately, the influential pro-Russian Rybar Telegram channel reported that 30 such missiles had been fired at Crimea in recent days.

It noted that Ukrainian forces had fired eight missiles at the Dzhankoy airbase and four at the airfield in Gvardeyskoye, adding that the missiles were launched from the Kherson region.

Washington has already provided Kiev with HIMARS launchers, capable of firing ATACMS missiles, which can hit Russian targets way behind the frontline between the two warring neighbors.

Russia has warned that the conflict in Ukraine could be prolonged due to the support of Western countries, on top of them the US, for Kiev. 

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