Missile news welcomed in Ukraine but 'won't win war'

Ukraine's President Zelensky said "missiles speak for themselves" after reports of the move emerged

President Zelensky has been pushing for this moment for months. When it finally came, he was a little coy.

Strikes are not made with words, he said in his nightly address: "Such things are not announced, missiles speak for themselves. Definitely."

It has been widely reported that US President Joe Biden has given Ukraine permission to use long range missiles supplied by Washington to strike deep inside Russia.

It is thought that initially Ukraine’s use of the Army Tactical Missile System – known by its acronym ATACMS – will be confined to defending Ukrainian troops still holding on to a small chunk of Russian territory in the Kursk region.

A major Russian counter offensive is expected there within days, assisted by as many as 10,000 troops from North Korea.

Speaking at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, the US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer declined to confirm the reports.

But he said the Biden administration had made it clear it would respond to "a significant Russian escalation that involves the deployment of a foreign country’s forces on its own territory".

Mr Finer said he would not say what form the US response would take "for operational reasons".

Use of the missiles, capable of targeting military facilities deep inside Russia, could complicate Russia’s efforts, enabling Ukraine to hold onto this valuable bargaining chip ahead of any possible peace talks next year.

Ukrainian military experts have welcomed Washington’s decision - saying it will not necessarily change the course of the war, but will restore a little balance.

This all comes at a time when Russian forces are creeping forward all along the eastern front and Ukraine feels it has been on the back foot for several months.

“Ukrainians are very much inspired with the news,” said Maj Volodymyr Omelyan from the Brigade of Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Putin has previously warned that such a move from the US would amount to direct participation of Nato countries in the war - but Maj Omelyan said this was simply “bluffing”.

“We shall not pay any attention,” he told the BBC World Service, since Russia had issued similar warnings about “many other systems and weapons we received”.

“Nothing happened. Nothing will happen this time as well.”

The former government minister added that Ukraine needed similar permission for the use of Storm Shadow missiles, manufactured by Britain and France.

Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun said Ukrainians were “happy this decision has been taken” and that it would make a "huge difference".

But she said there was discontent “that it took Biden so long to make a decision that could have saved lives” had it been taken earlier.

“I wish it [had] been made before Putin had destroyed half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” she said.

• Biden allows Ukraine to strike inside Russia with missiles

What we do not know are the specifics of Washington’s decision: how many missiles Ukraine already has or what Washington’s conditions are for using them.

Oleksiy Goncharenko, an MP for Odessa, stressed that Ukraine needed a sufficient quantity of missiles for Washington's move to matter.

“It’s very important to have not just permission but missiles - to be capable… to make a difference to the situation.”

He added that it was a “pity” the decision “took almost 1,000 days", adding that it was "better late than never".

Another Ukrainian MP, Maria Ionova stressed that missiles were “not the silver bullet”.

She said the focus needed to be on a change in strategy.

“Because our enemies are united – and we should stand together as well.”

It is a significant move ahead of another long hard winter.

But Sunday’s Russian missile and drone attacks, which killed as many as 20 people, served as a stark reminder that Moscow is still intent on winning the war, on its terms.