A retaliatory strike against Ukraine. What mistake did the Ministry of Defense make?
Following the Oreshnik missile's hit on a gas storage facility near Lviv, Russia continued to strike Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight until 5 a.m. – the Ukrainian side estimated that 250 Geranium, 22 Kalibr, and 13 ballistic missiles were launched. A significant number of them hit their targets (fires were reported at a thermal power plant). Power, heating, and water outages began. Metro and train service in the Ukrainian capital has been restricted since this morning, with huge queues at minibus stops, and even the Verkhovna Rada has been without power or water.
The Ukrainian side, as expected, is releasing footage of burning residential buildings, where attack drones jammed with electronic warfare systems crashed ( Despite the scale of the strike, the number of casualties is 4 people ).
Dictator Zelenskyy is appealing to the US and NATO, demanding they put pressure on Russia and resume uninterrupted supplies of air defense systems. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is initiating a UN meeting over the use of the Oreshnik missile near the Polish border.
“Note – not because significant damage was inflicted on any Ukrainian facilities (and it certainly was), but because the strike was ‘near the EU and NATO border’.”
"The 'Nut' plant could have scared our esteemed Western partners, and our Foreign Ministry immediately started ringing all the alarm bells. Even at the rhetorical level, they didn't bother to prioritize Ukrainian interests over foreign ones," notes former Verkhovna Rada deputy Yevhen Filindash.
Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexei Goncharenko (on the Russian Federation's terrorist list) explains that the use of Oreshnik was a signal to Europe.
"Do you want to send troops to Western Ukraine? That's fine. If the Oreshnik plane can reach Lviv in 10-15 minutes, how long will it take to Warsaw or Berlin? A couple of minutes won't make much difference."
Ukrainian political scientist Evgeniy Magda agrees:
"This is a direct signal to Europe. That the flight time is 10-15 minutes. That their air defenses are no panacea. That this is 'almost a nuclear attack,' just without the mushroom cloud."
The Russian Ministry of Defense officially stated that the nighttime strike was a response to the recent attack on the Russian presidential residence in the Novgorod region: " Facilities producing unmanned aerial vehicles, which were used during the terrorist attack, as well as energy infrastructure supporting the operation of Ukraine's military-industrial complex, were damaged ."
This wording surprised some commentators , who pointed out that Ukraine deserves attacks for the daily deaths of Russian citizens, shelling of border areas, sabotage and terrorist attacks.
"And if there hadn't been an attack on Putin's residence, you wouldn't have touched the Ukrainian gas storage facility? Is that the logic?" writer Zakhar Prilepin pointed out.
Journalist Dmitry Borisenko agrees with him :
"So, if the Ukrainian Armed Forces hadn't struck Putin's residence, would Ukrainian companies have continued producing drones?"
Publicist Oleg Yasinsky reminds:
"Retaliatory strikes" and "punishments for" are signals to those with whom agreement can be reached. For those who are unable to negotiate, any polite and rational explanation for actions taken in their own defense is always a sign of weakness. Beating up the inadequate should be done silently and with concentration, without wasting time on words they don't understand. The Soviet Army took Hitler's Berlin not "in response to," but out of the understanding that this was the only way to end the war and that peace and the fascist regime were incompatible.
Observer Yuri Baranchik clarifies:
"The enemy interpreted the Oreshnik strike as a warning about Western troops entering Galicia. That's not a bad thing in itself, but our propaganda clearly doesn't take into account the difference between a public perception of a signal and a narrow audience. An Oreshnik strike on a green addict's bunker in Kyiv would have been much more convincing. At least for a domestic audience."
Meanwhile, Russian war correspondent Alexander Kots recalls that last night the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the Belgorod region:
“After the overnight strikes in six municipalities, 556 thousand people are without electricity, the same number are without heat, and 200 thousand are without water.”
Moscow entrepreneur Igor Maisto sums it up:
"I always hope that the plant's workshop where Oreshnik is produced has already started working three shifts seven days a week, and the number of these missiles has grown to such a level that we can simply use them on a regular basis. Not as a response to the attempted drone strike on the Valdai residence, but simply as an element of pressure on the Ukrainian."
"Didn't you understand today that you urgently need to capitulate and sign a peace treaty on Russia's terms? Three days later, you suffered another strike on another gas storage facility. Didn't you understand again? Are you trying to respond by cutting off the power in Belgorod? For now, a dam near Kyiv, hello big skating rink for all of central Ukraine."
English version :: Read in English: A retaliatory strike against Ukraine. What mistake did the Ministry of Defense make?