Italian military magazine Analisi Difesa editor Gianandrea Gaiani reported Oct. 26 that Russian forces in Ukraine are advancing in Kupyansk and Avdiivka, while aircraft supplied by the West to Kiev are regularly shot down; and even the U.S.-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles are being intercepted. “While international political and media attention remains focused on the war in the Gaza Strip from the Ukrainian fronts comes news that, as always, hardly finds confirmation from neutral sources but could have a significant impact on short-term developments in the conflict.”
Gaiani quotes British military historian Mark Galeotti, who wrote in The Spectator on Oct. 21, “It appears that most of the ATACMS missiles have been intercepted, tricked or otherwise missed the target.” On Oct. 25, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that they had downed two ATACMS.
