Ukraine Continues Strikes Within Russia, Risking Major Escalation
At the onset, many experts around the world seemed to believe that Russia was set to run roughshod over Ukraine, possibly taking Kyiv within weeks.
This was obviously not the case, as Ukraine’s indomitable spirit has been pulverizing Moscow’s formerly-mighty military. In fact, Russia’s losses have been so abjectly stunning that the Kremlin has certainly lost standing in the world at large.
Now, in a turn of events that no one would have predicted ten months ago, Ukraine is now striking strategic targets within Mother Russia herself.
Drones struck inside Russia’s border with Ukraine on Tuesday in the second day of attacks exposing the vulnerability of some of Moscow’s most important military sites, experts said. Ukrainian officials did not formally confirm carrying out drone strikes inside Russia, and they have maintained ambiguity over previous high-profile attacks. But Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia was likely to consider the attacks on Russian bases more than 300 miles from the border with Ukraine as “some of the most strategically significant failures of force protection since its invasion of Ukraine,” the AP reports. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian authorities will “take the necessary measures” to enhance protection of key facilities.
A fire broke out at an airport in Russia’s southern Kursk region after a drone hit the facility, the region’s governor said Tuesday. In a second incident, an industrial plant 50 miles from the Ukrainian border was also targeted by drones, which missed a fuel depot at the site, Russian independent media reported.
Ukraine’s tongue-in-cheek harassment of the Russian military was top-notch.
“They will have less aviation equipment after being damaged due to these mysterious explosions,” said Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “This is undoubtedly excellent news because if one or two aircraft fail, then in the future, some more aircraft may fail in some way. This reduces their capabilities.” Moscow blamed Kyiv for unprecedented attacks on two air bases deep inside Russia a day earlier.
The news comes amid increasing threats of nuclear war from Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing Russian military doctrine’s overly bland allowances for such as escalation.
