Kyiv has secretly received more than a hundred long-range ATACMS missiles and has already used them against the Russians. The New York Times reports this with reference to its sources.

According to the publication, the missiles were used to attack a military airfield in Dzhankoy and Russian troops in Berdiansk.

As we reported earlier, the transfer of these missiles was approved by US President Joseph Biden in mid-February and was part of a $300 million aid package in March. The package was delivered to Ukraine last week along with a new batch of ATACMS cassette modifications.

The publication writes that the transfer was kept secret to prevent the possibility of the Russian military from moving its facilities to a sufficient distance.

It is noted that earlier the USA did not want to transfer long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, but the decision was made after the sale of these systems to other countries was refused. This allowed the US to keep most of the missiles for itself and transfer some to Ukraine. The transfer was also facilitated by Russian attacks on the Ukrainian energy system.

However, the American arsenal of ATACMS is relatively small. According to system's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, only about 4,000 missiles have been produced since the missiles were developed in the 1980s.