Russian officials claimed on Tuesday (April 30) that Ukraine used US-manufactured Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to attack Crimea in an attempt to break through Russia’s air defense network but six missiles were shot down.
Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated, “Air defense forces shot down 10 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, 6 American-made ATACMS tactical missiles, and 2 French-made ‘Hammer’ guided aerial bombs.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense did not specify the location where the six American-made ATACMS missiles were shot down.
Sergei Aksyonov, the pro-Russian leader of Crimea, mentioned that the ATACMS missiles were shot down over Crimea. He shared a photo on Telegram showing the unexploded ordnance of the ATACMS missiles he referred to but did not specify how many missiles were shot down.
Russian lawmaker Leonid Ivlev, who served in the Soviet Air Force, told Russian news agency that Ukraine attacked Crimea’s air base with 12 ATACMS missiles.
Ivlev said, “Their target was the airport but the missiles were destroyed by the air defense system.” He added that Ukraine was attempting to penetrate Crimea’s air defense shield and then target strategically significant facilities.
He mentioned that attacks may increase as President Putin is set to begin a new term next week, stating, “With the approach of the May Day holiday and the inauguration of the Russian president, there may be new attempts to attack the peninsula.”
Influential pro-Russian media Rybar Telegram claimed that in recent days Ukraine has launched 30 such missiles towards Crimea.
Ukraine stated that overnight they launched 8 missiles towards the Zankoey airbase and 4 missiles towards the Gvardeyskoye airport. Ukraine claimed these missiles were launched from the Kherson region.
A US official mentioned last week that Washington secretly delivered long-range missiles to Kyiv as part of the $300 million military aid package approved by President Biden on March 12 for Ukraine.
In fact, the issue of providing Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles with a range of 300 kilometers has been a contentious topic for the Biden administration for several months, even though medium-range ATACMS missiles were supplied to Ukraine in September last year.
A US official in Washington told Reuters that the long-range ATACMS missiles were first used on the early morning of April 17, targeting a Russian airport in Crimea located about 165 kilometers (103 miles) from the Ukrainian front line.
Initially, the Pentagon opposed deploying long-range missiles, fearing the impact on the US military arsenal. Additionally, there were concerns that Ukraine could use these American-made missiles to attack targets inside Russia, potentially escalating into direct confrontation between Russia and the US.