'Limited number of ATACMS'. Pentagon cites new reason for ban on strikes deep into Russian territory
One of the reasons the United States does not allow Ukraine to use American weapons for long-range strikes against Russia is the limited supply of ATACMS missiles, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said during a briefing.
Commenting on Ukraine's calls to permit long-range strikes against targets in Russia, Singh recalled the words of White House spokesperson John Kirby, who noted that most Russian aircraft are based on airfields located too far away.
"Our intelligence assesses that 90 percent of Russian aircraft launching the glide bombs and the firing missiles against Ukraine are at airfields that are 300km away from Ukrainian controlled territory," she said.
Thus, according to Singh, these airfields are already beyond the range of ATACMS missiles.
"ATACMS would not be able to reach these airfields, so therefore, the challenges posed by these glide bombs would still remain. And even if Ukraine were to use ATACMS against the very small percentage of the airfields that remain in range, we've seen the Russian military move those airfields back," added the US Defense Department representative.
Responding to a follow-up question, Singh stated: "There is a limited number of ATACMS. There is not an abundance of these long range type of capabilities. And of course one thing that we're always assessing is escalation and that's something that we've been very clear about from the beginning. So it's a bit of all of those things knitted together."
On August 20, the Pentagon reported that the US policy of restricting long-range strikes on Russian territory remains unchanged.
However, Washington allows Ukraine to strike in response to defend against Russian attacks from the border region of Sumy Oblast, including Russia's Kursk Oblast.
On August 31, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported that he had provided a list of potential targets in Russia for long-range strikes to American high-ranking officials.