Ukraine wants to ‘drive away Russians’ after secret delivery of long-range missiles

The secret delivery of long-range missiles (ATACMS) from the United States to Ukraine should disrupt Russian logistics in the war. That’s what Europe reporter Geert Jan Hahn says. “You are going to try to disrupt the Russians’ logistics, push back command posts and see how you can hurt Russians within the escalation ladder.”

It is no coincidence that the delivery had to remain secret and is only now coming out. ‘Biden paid this from the old budget for Ukraine, of which there was still $300 million left. He did not want to spoil the discussion about the new support package, which has now ended well,” says foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg.

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Battlefield situation worsens

The fact that the delivery took place after the US initially resisted for a long time may be due to the situation on the battlefield that deteriorated for Ukraine, the Europe reporter believes. ‘The Americans saw around the fall of Avdiivka that things were not going well for Ukraine.’ The choice of the ATACMS is therefore a step further on the so-called ‘escalation ladder’, because more remote areas can now be attacked by the Ukrainians. ‘Especially with the aim of chasing the Russians away. We have seen this before in the Black Sea region,” says Hahn.

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Hahn also cites the situation where Ukraine used submarine drones to attack the Russian navy in the area. Russia then largely withdrew from the Black Sea. ‘The Americans have now found that with the ATACMS, Ukraine can counter some of the Russian attacks by simply pushing everything Russia does at the front further back.’