VICTORY CHRONICLES - DAY 203 - Ukrainian World Congress

Above: M142 HIMARS alongside ATACMS precision missiles with range up to 300 km. Photo via Mil.in.UA

Ukraine is crying for Army Tactical Missile Systems or ATACMS (pronounced attack-ems) surface-to-surface precision strike missiles to leverage counteroffensive momentum. The US and NATO have refused to give Ukraine long-range missiles for fear of Ukraine using them to shoot into russia, thereby accelerating Western confrontation with moscow. ATACMS have a range up to 300 kilometers (186 miles).

Ukraine has previously pledged not to use Western-supplied artillery to fire into enemy territory. But the lack of longer-range rockets limits Ukraine’s ability to push the enemy out of firing range on civilian infrastructure. Ukraine has made some long-range strikes, for example, into southern Crimea Oblast.

On September 7, Ukraine released a statement that long-range missiles are absolutely necessary for Ukraine’s long-term security. Looking forward optimistically, AFU Commander in Chief Valery Zaluzhny explained that even after the liberation of Crimea, the enemy will continue to menace Ukraine since it has an attack range of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) taking into account the flight range of cruise missiles.

Above: Social media has dubbed the enemy’s abandoned cache of war materiel as the “Russian Lend-Lease” program. Graphic via Euromaidan Press

Above: Foriegn military aid offloaded by Ukraine. Photo via Atlantic Council

The highly anticipated US-sponsored Ukrainian Democracy Defense Lend-Lease program may come into operations as early as October, pending final decisions on precise mechanisms of implementation. The program should allow Ukraine to order a wide range of materiel needed to win the war within a set budget.

In April 2022, the US congress authorized the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act which simplifies the provision of materiel to Ukraine in a manner similar to a World War 2 mechanism to arm the Allies. The bill provides enhanced authority for the Biden administration to enter into agreements with Kyiv to lend or lease defense items to Ukraine to protect civilian populations from the Russian military invasion, as well as for other purposes, without having to heed export regulations that can slow the process down.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov spoke in an interview with RBC-Ukraine news discussing the process of ironing out the details. He couldn’t say exactly how the project will work or when it would start because negotiations are still on-going, primarily with the ministry of finance, calling it a financial relationship. Mr Reznikov’s job will be to consult with the military and pass their specific requests into the mechanism.

Above: Scene in illegally-occupied Melitopol. Photo via Daily Mail

Melitopol’s mayor Ivan Fedorov wrote in Telegram that enemy troops stationed in Melitopol are leaving for Crimea. Mr Fedorov said columns of military equipment were reported at a checkpoint in Chonhar, a village on the boundary between the Crimean peninsula and the Ukrainian mainland. The mayor added that the retreat was accompanied by a frenzy of residential looting.