Pentagon bans Ukraine from long-range strikes on Russia due to limited number of ATACMS
Sabrina Singh, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary (flickr.com)
The US Department of Defense has stated that the ban on Ukraine using American weapons for long-range strikes on the territory of the aggressor country, Russia, is explained by several reasons. Among them is the limited number of ATACMS missiles, according to Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.
In response to journalists' questions regarding Ukraine's calls to lift the "taboo" on long-range strikes against targets in Russia, the US Defense Department representative reiterated yesterday's words from a White House official regarding the significant distance of Russian aviation bases.
"Our intelligence assesses that 90 percent of Russian aircraft launching the glide bombs and the firing missiles against Ukraine are at airfields that are 300km away from Ukrainian controlled territory," she said.
Thus, Singh added, these airfields "now put that out of ATACMS range."
"So ATACMS would not be able to reach these airfields, so therefore, the challenges posed by these glide bombs, you know, would still remain. And even if Ukraine, you know, were to use ATACMS against the very small percentage that — of the airfields that remain in range, we've seen Russian — the — the Russian military move those airfields back," her statement reads.
As a result, the US defense official emphasized that the impact of such strikes "would be very little and of very little strategic value".
When journalists asked for clarification on the purpose of the restrictions for Ukraine on long-range strikes against Russia using American weapons—whether it was due to the limited number of ATACMS or due to fear of escalation—Singh stated that it was "a little bit of all of those things."
"There is a limited number of ATACMS. It is not — there is not an abundance of these long range type of capabilities. And of course one thing that we're always assessing is, is escalation and that's something that we've been very clear about from the beginning. So it's a bit of all of those things knitted together," she responded.
The Pentagon representative added that the Ukrainian Armed Forces "have been very successful in using these ATACMS to take back their territory in the south and the east."
"And we believe that they have the capabilities and being able to knit those together on the battlefield. You know, they do have a really significant challenge in the East and being able to direct some of the firepower that they have that direction is what we continue to work with them on," Singh said.
US taboo for Ukraine on long-range strikes against Russia
Although several of Ukraine's partner countries have provided Kyiv with long-range missiles capable of striking targets within a 300 km radius, there is a restriction on the Ukrainian Armed Forces using this weaponry for strikes on Russian territory.
Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that Kyiv had provided the US with a list of targets for deep strikes with ATACMS on Russia.
RBC-Ukraine previously reached out to a military expert to learn what might be behind the West's ban on missile strikes against Russia.
For more details on Western restrictions on long-range strikes against Russia, read our material at this link.
