Putin says sending ATACMS missiles will only “prolong Kyiv’s agony”

NOn Tuesday, Washington announced that it had supplied the Ukrainian Army, in great secrecy, with ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles with a range of 165 kilometers, so that it could reach Russian bases.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later announced the “successful” use of these weapons, and for the first time. In parallel, his special forces claimed attacks on Russian airfields in occupied territory on the same day.

In response, Putin considered that the sending of these missiles, which Kiev had been requesting for several months, would not change the course of the war, again claiming that the Ukrainian military recorded heavy losses in its counteroffensive against Russian defenses.

“The fundamental thing is that [os mísseis ATACMS] they will not radically change the situation on the contact line, it is impossible”, said the Russian President during a press conference in Beijing, in the final stretch of his visit to China.

“It does not represent anything good for Ukraine. The agony will be prolonged”, he added, considering that Washington made “a serious mistake”.

From his perspective, the supply of ATACMS to Ukraine demonstrates “that the United States is increasingly involved in this conflict”.

In turn, Russian Defense Minister Serguei Shoigu declared that Western deliveries to Kiev of missiles, armored vehicles and F-16 planes, in this case for next year, lead Russia to “reinforce its western borders”.

Ukraine, which forced Moscow to retreat several times on the ground in 2022, launched a counteroffensive in June to recover 20% of its territory controlled by the Russian Army and local Russophone militias, and in the meantime annexed by Moscow.

Kiev guarantees that its troops continue to advance, but with slow progress due to Western hesitation in providing new weapons.

In parallel, the Russian Army carried out its own offensives towards Kupiansk (northeast), and since October 10 towards Avdivka (east), which they seek to surround.

Avdivka is located 13 kilometers north of Donetsk, the capital of these regions controlled by local separatists and Russian forces. Around 1,600 civilians remain in this city, which had 30,000 inhabitants before the February 2022 military invasion.

The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945).

Ukraine’s Western allies have supplied weapons to Kiev and approved successive sanctions packages against Russian interests to try to diminish Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort.

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