Russia Shoots Down 4 Advanced American ATACMS Missiles Fired by Ukraine

MOSCOW – Air defense system Russia has shot down four sophisticated United States (US) ATACMS missiles fired by Ukrainian forces into Crimea on Saturday night.

“Kyiv forces attempted to carry out a terrorist attack against the Russian peninsula using surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) supplied by Washington,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram.

“The attack was successfully intercepted,” the ministry continued, as reported Russia Today, Sunday (5/5/2024).

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that six ATACMS projectiles had been shot down in one day, without specifying the location of the attacks. According to the ministry, in total, 15 American-supplied long-range missiles have been intercepted in the past seven days.

In late April, US officials confirmed previous media reports that the Pentagon had secretly sent an unspecified number of long-range missiles to Ukraine as part of an arms aid package announced by President Joe Biden in mid-March.

According to a New York Times report, the purpose of the US supplying ATACMS to Kyiv was to put more pressure on Crimea and allow Ukrainian forces to target the peninsula more effectively. The report quoted an unnamed Pentagon official.

Moscow says providing long-range missiles will only cause more problems for Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the use of ATACMS would not impact the outcome of the conflict, or prevent Russia from achieving its security goals.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that any Western-backed Ukrainian attack on the Russian peninsula, or the Crimean Bridge connecting it to the Krasnodar Territory, would trigger a strong response.

“I want to once again warn Washington, London, Brussels, that any aggressive action against Crimea will not only fail, but will also be met with backlash,” he said at a press conference.

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