Putin says Ukraine's new U.S.-supplied missiles won't change outcome of war

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the importance of a new U.S.-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. 

Putin told reporters that Russia "will be able to repel" further attacks by the U.S.-made long-range 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 Russian-occupied regions on Tuesday.

That development came as the two sides looked to gain battlefield advantages and consolidate their positions ahead of the winter, when the weather would 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 counteroffensive.

Additional threat

Putin, speaking to reporters during a visit to Beijing, conceded the ATACMS creates an additional threat, but he insisted the weapon would not change the situation along the 1,500-kilometre front line.

"For Ukraine, in this sense, there's nothing good ... it only prolongs the agony," he said. 

During Putin's visit to China, he said he had briefed President Xi Jinping "in some detail" about Ukraine. Putin said "external factors" and "common threats" served only to strengthen Russian-Chinese co-operation.

China is one of the few countries Putin can still visit without the threat of an arrest warrant issued earlier this year by the International Criminal Court.

Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, described Washington's decision to supply the ATACMS as "reckless" and "a grave mistake" that won't 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 U.K. defence ministry said 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 X, formerly known as Twitter.

Russian attack

On Wednesday, two Ukrainian civilians were killed and at least three others were wounded when a Russian missile struck a apartment building in the central district of the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, regional Gov. Yurii Malashko said.

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 wasn't immediately possible to verify the two sides' battlefield claims.