Ukraine's Defence Minister thanks Pentagon chief for ATACMS and says they are having a major impact

Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umierov has thanked US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for providing Ukraine with ATACMS long-range missiles.

Source: Rustem Umierov on Twitter (X); US Department of Defense

Details: Umierov said that he had a "substantive call" with Austin.

Quote from Umierov: "I updated my American colleague on the battlefield situation.

I thanked the US leadership and Secretary Austin himself for providing ATACMS to Ukraine. This is having a major impact on the battlefield."

Details: The US Department of Defense said Austin had confirmed that the White House is prepared to ask Congress "for the resources needed to ensure Ukraine can continue to defend its people".

Austin and Umierov also discussed the "successful outcomes of last week’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting in Brussels, Belgium and recent developments on the ground in Ukraine", the Defense Department’s statement said.

Background:

• On the night of 17 October, Ukrainian troops attacked helicopters and equipment belonging to the Russian occupying forces at air bases near the occupied cities of Berdiansk and Luhansk. Two helicopters were hit.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine had deployed ATACMS missiles successfully. The Wall Street Journal said that the US had "secretly" sent ATACMS missiles to Ukraine.

• Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the United States would continue supplying Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles on an ongoing basis.

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