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US expert says more ATACMS won't alter battlefield dynamics in Ukraine

"There is no magic weapon, there is no series of weapons that could change this" situation for the Ukrainian armed forces, Scott Ritter said

NEW YORK, April 23. /TASS/. Sending more ATACMS tactical missiles to Ukraine will not change the situation on the battlefield, former US Marine Corps Intelligence Officer Scott Ritter told the latest Judging Freedom podcast series on YouTube.

"All the Russians will do is adapt, it [supplying weapons] does not change the outcome. Just like when we gave them HIMARS, the Russians changed the way they did business and now they are shooting down the HIMARS <...>. You give the Ukrainians the ATACMS - it will be a gamechanger for a moment, and then the Russians will adapt, and all the realities <…> come back to haunt," he said in a video released on Monday. US-provided Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) have previously been sent to Kiev already, and the Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly reported the downing of those missiles by Russian aircraft and air defense systems.

"There is no magic weapon, there is no series of weapons that could change this" situation for the Ukrainian armed forces, Ritter said as he insisted that Russia would prevail because it has the superiority of arms and the concentration of firepower. "Ukraine has lost all of this (firepower, experience, troops - TASS)," Ritter said. According to him, "we are looking at the beginning of the collapse" in Ukraine.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal doubted whether any fresh US military aid to Ukraine would radically change the situation for Kiev.

On April 20, the House of Representatives passed a $61 bln aid bill for Ukraine that includes ATACMS missile deliveries. The Senate will start considering the initiative later on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that sending additional military aid to Kiev would only make resolving the Ukraine conflict harder.