Military expert on the wave of Russian attacks: “This is terror against the civilian population” France closes embassy in Niger

The past few days in Ukraine have been marked by constant rocket and drone fire from the Russian attackers. On December 29, Russia fired more than 100 missiles into Ukraine, killing at least 30 people. Today, Tuesday, numerous rockets flew again, destroying and damaging targets in several Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kiev.

According to reports from residents, loud explosions were heard in the city of over a million inhabitants. There are power outages in several parts of the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram. Civil infrastructure facilities were made; a gas pipe was damaged. Problems with water supply were also reported. Thirteen people were injured in a high-rise building when a rocket caused a fire, Klitschko wrote.

Airstrikes were also reported from other parts of the country. According to original authorities, one person was killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkov; more than twenty people were injured.

Missile attack comes before the onset of winter

Just before a week in which meteorologists predict a drop in temperatures in large parts of Ukraine, Russia is once again targeting civilian infrastructure with the worst wave of attacks of the war yet. “These attacks were expected and will probably not be the last,” says military and security expert Nico Lange in an interview with Watson media partner t-online. Russian President Putin also announced an intensification of attacks on Ukraine. “No attack on civilians should go unpunished,” Putin said at an event at a military hospital.

Russia describes the attacks as “retaliation” for several suspected Ukrainian attacks on the Belgorod border area. Lange clearly contradicts this Russian interpretation: “This is terror against the civilian population.”

Last year, Russia attacked targets such as power plants in October. “However, the Russians discovered that the Ukrainians could quickly restore their infrastructure. This winter, the attacks are taking place much later, just before it gets really cold in Ukraine,” says Lange.

The expert believes that more of these attacks could be imminent in the coming days and weeks: “The Russians have produced and stockpiled missiles so that they can carry out these large waves of attacks and flood the improved Ukrainian air defenses with the enormous mass of missiles. “

Russians bomb their own village

Civilian authorities say a grenade accidentally landed in a Russian village in the Voronezh border region in the latest heavy Russian airstrike on Ukraine. According to the first information, seven farms were damaged, the region’s governor, Alexander Gusev, wrote in Telegram on Tuesday. There are no injuries.

The incident took place in the village of Petropavlovka, about 140 kilometers from the Ukrainian-controlled area. Gusev spoke of “accidentally releasing” the projectile. He provided no information about the type of weapon. Unauthenticated videos allegedly showing serious damage to several houses in the village were circulating on social media.

Heavy fighting in the east

Heavy fighting was reported from the various sectors of the front on New Year’s Day. The Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev announced in the evening that 38 attacks by Russian troops had been repelled in the east of the country alone. The Ukrainian rocket artillery managed to hit several assembly points and artillery positions of the Russian infantry. This information cannot be independently verified.

Russia is paying a high price for this, says Nico Lange. These would be disproportionate to the relatively small territorial gains north of Adiivka and west of the long-disputed town of Bakhmut. “However, there are large losses – both in terms of material and fighters,” Lange continues. Russia uses its soldiers there as ‘human material’.

Small progress for Ukraine in the Kherson region

However, in the Kherson region, the Ukrainian army is said to have made smaller territorial gains, Russian military blogger Voenkor Kotenok reports on his Telegram channel. According to his description, the Russian army withdrew from the village of Krynky – probably because it did not receive enough artillery support to repel a Ukrainian attack.

So the trench warfare at the front continues. One reason for this could be the poor training of Ukrainian commanders, says Nico Lange. “The Ukrainians need support in training at brigade level or higher,” the security expert said. Otherwise, such a complex operation as national defense could not be carried out in the long term.

“You can’t get shot and do nothing.”

The West must also supply additional categories of weapons, Lange continues. “Russia must realize that it cannot carry out such massive missile attacks with impunity,” the expert said. Therefore, Ukraine must now receive more ATACMS missiles with a longer range or the German Taurus cruise missiles. This means that the Ukrainian military can continue to attack targets in the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and that important Russian supply lines could be destroyed. “Such attacks like those of December 29 and Tuesday must entail costs for Russia,” says Nico Lange.

The fact that Ukraine cannot be provided with all defense resources quickly enough also has to do with the West. “We have not increased production capacity for air defense systems and guided missiles in a timely manner,” Lange said. It will also make a difference on the battlefield when the F-16 fighter jets Ukraine has long requested finally arrive. The training of the first designated pilots has already been completed, the British Ministry of Defense reported on December 26. We are currently waiting for the jets to be delivered. Nico Lange explains: “With airplanes it was like with battle tanks: a lot of time was wasted on discussions. When they finally arrive, the Russian fighter jets will have to operate from a greater distance.”

In this context, Ukraine’s Western allies should ask themselves whether the “artificially established limit” that Ukraine cannot attack Russian air bases still makes sense. “You cannot allow yourself to be shot in the cities and do nothing about the origin of these attacks, that is, air bases such as Engels in Russia or ships in the Black Sea,” says Lange.