UKRAINE USES MISSILES PROVIDED BY US

Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said on Wednesday.

Long sought by Ukrainian leaders, the new missiles give Ukraine nearly double the striking distance - up to 300 kilometers (190 miles) - that it had with the mid-range version of the weapon that it received from the US last October.

One of the officials said the US is providing more of these missiles in a new military aid package signed by President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

Biden approved delivery of the long-range Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, in early March, and the US included a "significant" number of them in a USD 300 million aid package announced at the time, one official said.

The two US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delivery before it became public, would not provide the exact number of missiles given last month or in the latest aid package, which totals about USD 1 billion.

Ukraine has been forced to ration its weapons and is facing increasing Russian attacks. Ukraine had been begging for the long-range system because the missiles provide a critical ability to strike Russian targets that are farther away, allowing Ukrainian forces to stay safely out of range.

Information about the delivery was kept so quiet that lawmakers and others in recent days have been demanding that the US send the weapons - not knowing they were already in Ukraine.