A Russian missile attack killed two civilians in southern Ukraine on Wednesday, local authorities said, as President Vladimir Putin dismissed the importance of a new US-supplied weapon that Kyiv used to execute one of the most damaging attacks on the Kremlin’s air assets since the start of the war.
Mr Putin told reporters that Russia “will be able to repel” further attacks by the US-made Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS.
Ukraine claimed it used those missiles to destroy nine Russian helicopters, as well as ammunition, an air defence system and other assets at two airfields in Russia-occupied regions on Tuesday.
The development came as the two sides sought to gain battlefield advantages and consolidate their positions ahead of the winter when the weather will hamper operations.
The ATACMS will shift the battlefield layout to some degree as Russia will need to disperse its aircraft and ammunition depots. It had used aircraft to stop Ukraine’s ongoing counter-offensive.
Mr Putin, speaking to reporters during a visit to Beijing, conceded that the ATACMS creates an additional threat but insisted the weapon will not change the situation along the 932-mile (1,500km) front line.
“For Ukraine, in this sense, there’s nothing good … it only prolongs the agony,” he said.
Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, described Washington’s decision to supply the ATACMS as “reckless” and “a grave mistake” that will not alter the war’s outcome.
The fighting has ground largely to a stalemate, with a protracted war of attrition expected at least through next year.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that the Kremlin’s forces are currently trying to push forward in some parts of eastern Ukraine.
However, the areas are well defended and it is “highly unlikely” the Russians will accomplish their goal of a major breakthrough, it said in an assessment posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 18 October 2023.
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/GA3JcYqdD2
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/AebPDeDhhU— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) October 18, 2023
Wednesday’s attack killed two Ukrainian civilians and injured at least three others when a Russian missile struck a building in the central district of the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, the region’s governor, Yurii Malashko, said.
The attack apparently used six S-300 missiles, which took only 42 seconds to reach the city after being launched from Russian-controlled Ukraine land, according to Mr Malashko.
Russia’s defence ministry, meanwhile, claimed its forces shot down 28 Ukrainian drones in the Belgorod and Kursk regions and in the Black Sea area. It did not provide further details.
It was not immediately possible to verify the two sides’ claims.
