We can all
breathe easy: the Russians will not presently attack Kiev or some NATO country
We all
heard the tough talk from President Putin during his press conference yesterday
in Astana, Kazakhstan. From his warnings, many Western journalists expected an
imminent attack on Kiev using the new Oreshkin hypersonic missile to atomize both
civilian decision-making and military command and control centers. There was
also speculation in mainstream and in alternative media that Russia might
strike one or another military target in a NATO country such as Poland, home to
the latest Aegis Onshore missile launch site directed against Russia.
However,
this evening’s edition of the news and analysis program The Great Game
on Russia’s Pervy Kanal suggests Moscow is satisfied that its warnings against
further use of American, French and British missiles to strike deep into
Russian territory have finally been heard in Washington, London and Paris.
Accordingly, it will not attack Kiev until and unless there are new Ukrainian
attacks using ATACMS, Storm Shadow or Scalp.
In the
meantime, the Russian Ministry of Defense contents itself with the massive
attacks it has carried out in Ukraine as described below:
1. 25 November: short range (500 km) Iskander
tactical ballistic missiles were used to destroy 5 ATACMS launchers
2. 25-26 November the Russians destroyed
launchers for ballistic missiles Grom-2 in Odessa; also killed 40 foreign
specialists, mostly from the USA, in a rocket attack on the Kraken military
intelligence unit in Kharkov
An Iskander attack on the barracks
of a Special Operations detachment of the Ukrainian army in
Odessa killed 72, including 9
Frenchmen
3. On 28 Nov –a combined rocket and
drone attack was made on a Ukrainian military industrial complex and energy
infrastructure
The Russian
Ministry of Defense also reported that in the last week, the Russian air force
shot down 10 ATACMS, 15 Hammer glide bombs manufactured in France, two HIMARS rocket
launchers, and 353 airplane style drones.
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2024