US "Secretly" Shipped Long Range Missiles To Ukraine, Reuters

Follow-up to bullet at 17:27 BST. Reuters reporting that the US , “in recent weeks secretly shipped long-range missiles to Ukraine … and Ukraine last week used them for the first time,” according to a US official.

• Reuters reports: “The missiles were contained in a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine that U.S. President Joe Biden approved on March 12… The missiles were used for the first time in the early hours of April 17, launched against a Russian airfield in Crimea that was about 165 km (103 miles) from the Ukrainian front lines…”
• The Biden administration long debated the strategic benefits of sending long-range missile systems to Ukraine, fearing that the war could escalate if the US were to be seen as materially aiding Ukraine in striking targets within Russia.
• Reuters notes that Russia’s decision to use North Korean supplied ballistic missiles to strike Ukrainian infrastructure tipped the White House into approving the transfer, adding: “Biden told his team to include the long range [Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS)] in this funding package, but to do so secretly in order to maintain operational security and the element of surprise for Ukraine, the official said.”
• The report may indicate that the US will continue to supply Ukraine with long range missile systems covertly, despite not explicitly including the hardware on the military aid inventory, as noted in the previous bullet.