The US decision to send long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine was a grave mistake that will have serious consequences, Russia's ambassador to the US has said, after Ukraine said it used the weapons for the first time.
"The consequences of this step, which was deliberately hidden from the public, will be of the most serious nature," Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said on the Telegram messaging app.
After media reports that the US secretly provided Ukraine with ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) in recent days, the White House confirmed yesterday that it had recently provided Ukraine with a type of ATACMS capable of hitting targets up to 165km away.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed his forces used the ATACMS after his military reported striking two air bases in Ukrainian territory now controlled by Russia yesterday.
Ukrainian Special Forces said nine helicopters, an air defence missile launcher, runways and other equipment had been destroyed near Luhansk in Ukraine's east and in Berdyansk in the south, on the Sea of Azov, both under Russian control.
Ukraine had repeatedly asked the US administration for the ATACMS and pledged not to use them inside Russia's territory. It said the powerful weapons would alter the course of the 20-month-old war that Russia launched.
It remains to be seen how much of an advantage the missile system will give Ukraine, but Ukrainian officials have said they will push Russia to move its key air assets far back from the front lines.
The Kremlin has said US supplies of ATACMS missiles and Abrams tanks to Ukraine would not change the situation on the battlefield.
"Washington is consistently pursuing a policy of completely curtailing bilateral relations," Mr Antonov said. "The United States continues to push for a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.
Two civilians killed in Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia
Two people were killed and at least four wounded after an apartment building was destroyed in a Russian air attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia, officials in the Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine said.
"Search and rescue operations are ongoing at the site," Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of the Zaporizhzhia city council, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Yuriy Malashko, governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, said that eight apartments buildings were damaged in what he said was a Russian missile attack.
Mr Malashko and Mr Kurtiev posted photos of a five-storey building with windows blown out and the entrance destroyed and debris scattered around.
Earlier, a Moscow-installed official in the Russia-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia, blamed the strikes in the city on Ukrainian forces.
The city of Zaporizhzhia is the administrative centre of the broader Zaporizhzhia region in southeast Ukraine, which is now partially controlled by Russia.
