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Ukrainian-operated ATACMS missiles now in use in the war-torn country are set to threaten Russia's all-important air superiority, even as Russia claps back at Washington for furnishing Ukraine with the long-range missiles.
Kyiv used cluster versions of ATACMS missiles to strike Russian military bases in the Zaporizhzhia city of Berdiansk and in Russian-controlled Luhansk City early on Tuesday, in what was the first use of the U.S.-provided long-range weapons in Ukraine.
Kyiv destroyed nine Russian helicopters and several other Russian assets at the military bases, Ukraine's special operations forces said, including an anti-aircraft launcher, an ammunition depot, runways and unspecified special equipment. However, Kyiv did not initially confirm the use of ATACMS in the special operations forces' statement.
Vladimir Rogov, a Moscow-backed official in the annexed southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine where Berdiansk is located, said cluster variants of the ATACMS had been used on the city, as well as a form of Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDBs).
"ATACMS have proven themselves," came Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's confirmation later on Tuesday.
"We believe these ATACMS will provide a significant boost to Ukraine's battlefield capabilities without risking our [U.S.] military readiness," U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. The U.S. has sent around 20 ATACMS so far, The New York Times reported, citing two Western officials. However, it is thought the ATACMS provided, which are the second known type of cluster munitions the U.S. has sent to Ukraine, do not have the maximum range the systems are capable of reaching.
Some have heralded the strike as the opening salvo for a new phase of Ukraine's war effort, and one which caught Moscow unawares, just as the ground counteroffensive Ukraine has plugged away at since early June heads for its tougher, muddier winter phase.
It is "another gamechanger" that will "save a lot of lives" among Ukraine's ranks, Volodymyr Omelyan, a captain in Ukraine's military and a former minister for infrastructure, told Newsweek on Wednesday.
ATACMS, also known as the Army Tactical Missile System, could "dramatically change the entire strategy and tactics of the war," refocusing attention away from Ukraine's grueling land war to long-range strikes, Dan Rice, a former adviser to Ukraine's top soldier, General Valery Zaluzhny, told Newsweek on Tuesday as footage emerged purportedly showing the strikes.
"Yesterday, everyone could see the flawless result of ATACMS," Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky's office, said on Wednesday. ATACMS now in Kyiv's hands mean Ukraine can target Russian logistics "with surgical precision and alleviate the situation on the front line," Podolyak wrote in a post to X.
ATACMS will certainly be useful for Ukraine to target Russian bases such as airfields, rather than the hardened or fortified targets the British and French-supplied Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles have been designed for.
"Russia will be forced to disperse its military assets in order to avoid vulnerability to ATACMS strikes" with these cluster warheads, according to Fabian Hoffmann, a doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo, Norway. This could undermine Russia's air defense, and likely put more pressure on Moscow's logistics, he told Newsweek. "The effectiveness of Russian aviation may also be impaired due to Russia having to withdraw some of its aviation assets further away from the frontline," he added.
Analysis from the U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), also suggests the cluster warhead ATACMS will make Ukraine's strikes on Russian airfields more effective, destroying more Russian aircraft and assets. It will likely force Russian commanders to disperse its airpower assets and pull back several aircraft further away from the front line, the ISW predicted on Tuesday.
With Ukraine not having air superiority still offering an advantage to Moscow, the ability to strike at Russia's air bases is particularly useful, Omelyan said.
The blitz ATACMS strikes also appear to have caught Moscow unawares, with Ukrainian sources and Western analysts nodding to the value of the clandestine weapons transfer.
"The U.S. likely transferred the ATACMS systems in secret to provide Ukrainian forces operational surprise, and the overall shock in the Russian information space suggests that Ukraine achieved the desired effect," according to the ISW.
"It was great that it was a big surprise for Russians," Omelyan agreed to Newsweek.
The ATACMS strikes show "how effective weaponry can be," said Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament.
Russia will "need to rebuild their logistics for this new reality" where Ukraine's reach extends further behind the front lines, he told Newsweek, but added that the "crucial" capabilities have come at the end of Ukraine's main offensive campaign this year.
Moscow reacted with the ire it typically summons with announcements of new weapons being sent to Ukraine. "The White House's decision to send long-range missiles to the Ukrainians is a terrible blunder," said Anatoly Antonov, Moscow's ambassador to the United States. "The consequences of this step, which was deliberately hidden from the public, will be of the most serious nature," Antonov added in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hit back at the announcement, saying the missiles posed an "additional threat" to Russian forces in the war-torn country, but that Moscow was prepared to deal with the extra firepower.
"We, of course, will be able to repel these attacks," Putin said in remarks carried by Russian state news agency, Tass. The long-range missiles will not be "able to change at all [the] situation on the line of contact. Impossible," he added.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more