U.S. ATACMS Used Against Russia for First Time, Video Appears to Show

U.S.-made, long-range ATACMS missiles have been used by Ukrainian forces against Russia for the first time, new footage appears to show, marking the first time the long-awaited weapons have made their mark on the battlefield.

A "small number" of ATACMS missiles were "secretly sent to Ukraine in recent days," The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Ukraine has long petitioned Washington for the long-range surface-to-surface missiles, which experts say would beef up its strike capabilities to take out valuable Russian targets far behind the front lines.

Reports and footage of ATACMS apparently being used in Ukraine comes as Kyiv braces for tougher fall and winter conditions after slow and hard-won gains in its summer counteroffensive in eastern and southern Ukraine.

This 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 Zaluzhnyi, told Newsweek.

ATACMS, also known as the Army Tactical Missile System, can be fired from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that arrived in Ukraine last June.

Washington had been reluctant to pledge the systems, despite the United Kingdom and France providing their long-range, air-launched Storm Shadow and SCALP cruise missiles.

Kyiv used cluster versions of the ATACMS to strike Russian military bases in Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov coast and Russian-controlled Luhansk early on Tuesday.

Ukraine destroyed nine Russian helicopters in strikes on airbases in Berdyansk and Luhansk overnight, Ukraine's special operations forces said in a statement on Telegram. Ukraine also destroyed an anti-aircraft launcher, an ammunition depot, runways and unspecified special equipment, the special operations forces added.

However, Kyiv did not specify which weapons were used in the strikes. The Pentagon told Newsweek it had no information to offer regarding ATACMS, and directed queries about Ukrainian operations to Kyiv's armed forces.

Vladimir Rogov, a Moscow-backed official in the annexed southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine where Berdyansk 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).

Rogov had said in an earlier post to Telegram that Berdyansk residents heard a "series of loud explosions" around 2:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET Monday), but that air defenses shot down projectiles on the outskirts of the city.

A prominent Russian military blogger had also posted that Kyiv used ATACMS to target Russian airfields overnight.

Footage then quickly emerged purportedly showing the strikes on Berdyansk and Luhansk, although Newsweek could not independently verify this.

Newsweek has reached out to Ukraine's special operations forces for comment via email.

Update 10/17/2023 11 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include additional information.

Update 10/17/2023 12 p.m. ET: This article was updated with a response from the Pentagon.