Long-range ATACMS missiles capable of striking targets up to 300 kilometers away that the United States recently supplied to Ukraine will not help the Kiev regime change the situation on the battlefield in its favor, said Andrey Koshkin, a veteran Russian academic specializing in military and international affairs.
“Kiev needs to actively tout these weapon shipments in media and to boast about possible achievements for propaganda purposes,” Koshkin remarked. “But these missiles won’t help change the situation at the front line for two simple reasons. Firstly, there are not many of these missiles, and this technology is unusually complex for the Ukrainian forces, so the Ukrainian military won’t be able to use them widely. Secondly, it remains to be seen whether these sporadic strikes will manage to bypass Russian defenses. Thus, there are too many 'buts' for these missiles to be used successfully.”
According to him, the missiles will likely be used for terrorist strikes against civilian infrastructure deep within Russia’s territory, despite the US insisting that Ukraine refrain from conducting such attacks.
He also observed that, while the regime in Kiev already announced plans to hit the Crimean Peninsula and the bridge across the Kerch Strait, Russian forces have displayed their ability to intercept such missiles.
“We have excellent Buk-M2 and S-300 [air defense] systems that are capable of dealing with these missiles, quite successfully at that,” Koshkin said.
After months of intense congressional debates, US lawmakers finally approved a new $61 military package for Ukraine this week.
While this move appears to presage a fresh influx of weapons and munitions for the regime in Kiev, it remains unclear how it might help the Ukrainian military deal with the severe manpower shortage it currently faces.