Pentagon denies information on disposal of "unusable" ATACMS missiles

He said this at a Pentagon briefing. 

"I have seen these reports in the press. They are not true. These reports are false," Ryder said. 

He did not specify whether the transfer of these missiles to Ukraine is planned.

The day before, Newsweek published an article stating that the United States plans to dispose of "hundreds" of long-range ATACMS missiles as they are reaching the end of their service life. The journalists, citing expert opinions, wondered whether it would be more appropriate to transfer them to Ukraine.

ATACMS in Ukraine: what is known

On the night of October 16-17, Ukrainian forces successfully attacked Russian helicopters and airfields in Luhansk and Berdyansk.

Foreign media wrote that during this attack, Ukraine used for the first time against Russian troops the American long-range ATACMS missiles that the United States had secretly sent a few days earlier. 

Later, the White House confirmed the transfer of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that they would be used against Russian troops, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi demonstrated how Ukrainian defenders used them on the battlefield.

Later it was reported that Ukraine had received about 20 long-range ATACMS missiles from the United States. However, the Ukrainian army cannot use them to strike at Russian territory.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin called the supply of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine a US mistake and noted that it posed an additional threat to Russia.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the US would supply Ukraine with ATACMS missiles on a regular basis.