“Western military analysts say the strikes came at a staggering cost, depleted a dwindling supply of long-range missiles, hit no major military targets and are unlikely to change the course of a war going badly for Moscow.
“Russia lacks the missiles to mount attacks of this sort often, as it is running out of stocks and the Ukrainians are claiming a high success rate in intercepting many of those already used,” wrote Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London.
“This is not therefore a new war-winning strategy but a sociopath’s tantrum.”
President Vladimir Putin described the strikes as a response to what he called terrorist attacks by Ukraine, including a blast on Sunday that damaged Russia’s bridge to Crimea, which it built after annexing the peninsula it seized in 2014..
Hawks in Russia had been demanding for weeks that Putin escalate the conflict, and many of them hailed Monday’s attacks.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Putin loyalist leader of Russia’s Chechnya region who had lately called for military commanders to be sacked, said he was now 100% behind the strategy.
Margarita Simonyan, head of RT, Russia’s state-run overseas media channel, said Moscow had been waiting for the perfect time to demonstrate its strength. Quoting a proverb, she tweeted: “A Russian harnesses his horses slowly but drives them quickly.”
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Putin’s advisory security council, said Russia would now be able to widen its objectives: “The goal of our future actions, in my view, should be the complete dismantling of the political regime of Ukraine.””
Comment: This effort is reminiscent of all the “strategic bombing campaigns” waged since Douhet, LeMay, Trenchard and the other terror bombing nuts began their devil’s work. It seldom works. pl
Why Russia’s Missile Strikes in Ukraine Have Limited Impact | Newsmax.com
Putin needs more than this to level Ukrainian cities. Carpet bombing or hubcap-to-hubcap artillery shelling. He can’t do it. Neither could Hitler’s V1 and V2 scare tactics on London. Nor the Iran/Iraq Scud War on Tehran and Baghdad.
I expect that Surovikin will next try drone swarms against critical AD targets. But he has to find them first. I hope those Iris and Nasams SAMs have plenty of reloads.
I found this interesting – halfway through he talks about the two new generals (Putin’s)
(I include the entire text – I believe in leaving people in their context, it makes it easier to sort out what is useful from what is not useful)
MILES GUO
Here is the (translated) text from his video.
“There is a massive bombing in Kyiv this morning
Putin the Madman.
But I said before that the Crimean Bridge
Once Got Exploded
Putin would definitely go crazy
He got annoyed on his 70th birthday
He made another harsh statement again
He wants nuclear weapons
If he does not have any nuclear weapons
Why does ne not drop a couple of cluster bombs or something like that?
Surely he will, right?
That’s what he is going to do
The two new military leaders that he chose
Are very crazy, psychopathic
Many European movies
Are based on these two
The Maniacs, Also, the guy in Chechnya is a pervert.
They should all end in targeted elimination
Don’t worry, the next step for the U.S., Europe, and NATO
Is to target behead these new officials for sure
This is the necessary process
But the people in Kyiv are suffering way too much
I told one of our fellows in Ukraine this morning
Don’t worry, as long as Russia doesn’t release nuclear weapons
Russia will be disintegrated
Putin will die for sure
Khamenei is dead already
So from yesterday to today
Our fellow fighters have been busy purchasing G/Fashion
There is no group in the world as happy as we are
At this time
Wow, G/Clubs gave tens of millions of benefits
To G/Clubs members”
https://gettr.com/post/p1tzphp32d9
I listen to Miles Guo from time to time – he is a financial guy (not military – which is obvious) Still – there is a financial aspect to any war and that is why I listen to the financial people also. Miles Guo had another video about the over inflation of the Chinese Digital Yuan which he predicts the CCP will use to challenge the USD.. I won’t be surprised if that is attempted. (Putin’s financial ally is heading toward a financial precipice – if they are not already on the downward side of that downfall)
I used to describe Putin as smart and dangerous (not someone to turn your back on) I am having to agree with the ‘madman’ assessments. (SMH)
Kj
For some reason Macron felt the need yesterday to explicitly rule out nuclear retaliation in the event that Russia does use nukes in Ukraine. I’ve not seen how this news was reported in the Ukrainian press.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/france-nuclear-weapons/2022/10/12/id/1091642/
Well, it’s not “strategic” in this case, it’s “operational.”
I would not dismiss these latest attacks so out of hand.
It appears the goal is energy and infrastructure. At the beginning of this conflict, the IEA has shown a significant drop in energy output in Ukraine.
https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/ukraine-real-time-electricity-data-explorer
More importantly, Ukraine was an energy exporter to Europe. That has recently ended, it is yet to be seen if this temporary. From two days ago:
https://news.yahoo.com/energy-environment-ukraine-pauses-electricity-225822605.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACAPaZeHiJIqJb4xPfN6cw9yFzs1yLf1WuWQvopUcFnlOcvD–6uGStG4i0a4SDxW8QigrMbZgNlzP-l07-MfyYMz_cAI-IhFmYyTkQ8VKV1adxzCjRnpAQp0UMPdd0TwEBJ9f0G0RnmcxphRFyAPR_JHO1C0sst1vicZoqzvUOk
This all occurring during a reported energy crisis in Europe.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/10/europe-energy-crisis-russia-ukraine-war-ones-and-tooze/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/could-high-energy-prices-erode-european-support-for-ukraine-war-effort/ar-AA12UODk
The combination of winter, inflation and low energy supplies makes the latest round of attacks possibly more effective than at first glance. Is the goal cutting off the supplies of Ukraine, while also a subtle indirect strike at Europe/NATO?
And hitting the energy supplies of a country is a valid miliary target.
https://media.defense.gov/2017/Dec/29/2001861964/-1/-1/0/T_GRIFFITH_STRATEGIC_ATTACK.PDF
It wouldn’t be the first-time energy or weather played a hand in the outcome of combat. ~ John