US missiles in eastern Ukraine will be able to destroy the Strategic Missile Forces beyond the Urals
Moscow - Kyiv, April 8 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - Director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISI), retired Foreign Intelligence Lieutenant General Leonid Reshetnikov, considers a new big war in the Donbass almost inevitable. According to him, the United States needs combat positions in eastern Ukraine - from here its tactical missiles reach the Trans-Urals, where the main forces of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces are located.
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Reshetnikov considers the likelihood of resuming a major war in Ukraine “very high.” “A year ago, the idea of federalizing Ukraine worked,” he said in an interview "Arguments of the Week". – But now Kyiv only needs war. Only a unitary state."
The United States does not need a federal Ukraine, it will be a poorly controlled territory, says Reshetnikov.
“It is impossible to place your military bases or a new echelon of missile defense on it. And there are such plans. From Lugansk or Kharkov, tactical cruise missiles reach the Trans-Urals, where our main nuclear deterrent forces are located. And with 100% probability they will be able to hit silo-based and mobile ballistic missiles on their take-off trajectory,” he explains. – Now this area is inaccessible to them neither from Poland, nor from Turkey, nor from Southeast Asia. That's the main goal. Therefore, the United States will fight for Donbass until the last Ukrainian.”
“There is an unlikely scenario for Transnistria, but I don’t believe in it - the territory of the DPR and LPR is much larger, millions of people have already been drawn into this war,” continues Reshetnikov. – For now, Russia can still persuade the militia leaders to a temporary respite and truce. But precisely for “temporary”. There is no longer talk of any entry of Novorossiya into Ukraine. People of the southeast don’t want to be Ukrainians.”
However, when asked whether it was time for Russia to go all-in in the southeast, if it had already fallen into global isolation due to the annexation of Crimea, then why not go all-in, the general replied that it was too early to do so. “We underestimate the awareness of our president, who knows that certain processes are going on in Europe, closed from prying eyes. They give us hope that for now we can defend our interests using other methods and means,” he noted.
US missiles in eastern Ukraine could destroy the Strategic Missile Forces beyond the Urals.