In recent weeks the strategic dynamics of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict have changed with the Ukraine’s use of the US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) in the hotly contested area around Crimea.
The Kremlin, pretending to bow to the reported news, reported that Ukrainian military are from time to time shelling Russian installations around Crimea by the firing of US-made transportable long-range missiles. Russian defense commanders reported their air defense troops have though intercepted the first four ATACMS missiles above the Crimean peninsula. They noted the strikes hit Russian training centers around Crimea and are the second deployment of the US-made transportable missile systems in the last five days. The reported weapons are among the latest military bundles by the US and have the ability to attack targets up to 300 kilometers away.
The Ukrainian military fired three of the recently purchased ATACMS missiles on Tuesday to strike Russian troops in the Crimean peninsula, killing approximately 100 Russian military personnel as well as destroying a Russian surface-to-air missile defense unit in Dzhankoy, according to the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War.
There had been the Pentagon’s misgivings before the delivery made to Ukraine before, most likely out of fear of escalation if delivered to be expended to deep within the Russian heartland. However, the policy on this has changed for the US, so the delivery this time is heavier with much farther-reaching projectiles from the ones delivered before. The first reported employment was on the 17th of April, when the Russian airbase situated in Crimea was bombed around 165 kilometers away from the Ukrainian front.
Military strategists have also noted the strategic consequence of such long-range missiles, whose potential is such, Philip Karber believes, that Crimea would become “militarily worthless.” The ability to wield this type of far-extending weaponry is also politically significant, recent British commitments of heavy military assistance to Ukraine. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron announced an annual military assistance package worth 3 billion pounds.
