For the second day now, Russia has launched massive missile attacks on Ukraine. Such missile terror actually changed the tactics of the war and marked the transition to a new phase. However, it is just as losing for Russia.
The presenter of Channel 24 shared his thoughts on thisAlexey Pechiy. Read more about the threat of an offensive from Belarus, the causes of missile terror and its consequences.
Russia is desperately trying to change the tactics of the war, because on the battlefield, faced with the heroic resistance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the invaders are defeated. It is this thesis that can now be heard among Western politicians. Luckily, in the West, Putin's rocket attacks have made almost no one talk about the urgent need for negotiations. On the contrary, they started talking about strengthening assistance, although its nature is changing due to a change in Russian tactics – now the main focus is on the supply of air defense systems and weapons that will protect Ukrainian civilian cities. At the same time, the Kremlin is still trying to play the Belarusian card. The Belarusian regime has announced a sudden check of its own armed forces, and some manuals from dictator Lukashenko are already saying that a turning point in the war is nearing, allegedly in favor of Russia.
For more on how and why the Kremlin switched into missile terror and intimidation and how the West reacts to it.
Second day of massive missile attacks: the Kremlin comes up with successes again
Today, the Russians again, from the very morning, fired missiles at Ukraine. In particular, there were reports of explosions in Lviv and Vinnitsa. The mayor of Lvov Andriy Sadovyy said that a missile attack “on a critical infrastructure facility” took place in the city, as a result of which part of the city was again without electricity. Although, literally by morning, Lviv power engineers managed to cope with the consequences of yesterday's attack. Later it became known that in the Lviv region there were three explosions at two energy facilities.
In Vinnitsa, the Russians also hit the energy facility. In particular, the Ladyzhinskaya TPP was attacked twice. The first blow was delivered with the help of an Iranian kamikaze drone. Later, when the power engineers had already taken up the liquidation of the consequences of the explosion, the Russians struck a second blow. Unfortunately, there are wounded.
Today, just like yesterday, the invaders launched their missiles from the Caspian Sea, and drones from the occupied territories. And again, like yesterday, our air defense systems managed to shoot down more than half of the missiles. However, unfortunately, it should be noted that we still need more modern air defense in order to close our cities from enemy raids. The command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine notes that with the arrival of Western air defense systems, the destruction rate of Russian missiles will increase significantly.
According to the speaker of the Air Force Yuri Ignat, the massive Russian missile attack on critical infrastructure had two main the goals are to damage Ukraine's energy system and break the morale of Ukrainians. At the same time, Ukraine's air defense worked perfectly, canceling half of the enemy's air targets. That is, even with the available forces and means, the Armed Forces of Ukraine heroically cover our sky.
And, by the way, some Western sources claim that after the start of massive rocket attacks by Russians, Ukraine, together with partners, is changing priorities in the issue of supplying weapons to Ukraine. In particular, now the main emphasis is on air defense systems. The day before, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht had already announced that Germany would transfer the IRIS-T system to Ukraine in the coming days, and Joe Biden, in a conversation with Zelensky, expressed his condemnation of the missile strikes carried out by Russia on Ukraine, and also promised that the United States would speed up the transfer of air defense to Ukraine.
However, in Russia, unfortunately, they will not calm down in any way. The so-called Russian Ministry of Defense, after today's series of attacks, said it was satisfied with the results, since they allegedly “reached the goal.” And again, they announced that they allegedly managed to destroy the military command and energy facilities of Ukraine. Moreover, they said that they destroyed “two fuel storage bases for Ukrainian military equipment near the Dnieper and Pavlohrad, 5 weapons depots, including the Primorye united group of Ukrainian troops near Nikolaev.”
Threat of attack from Belarus: what what Lukashenka thought and will he give the order
Unfortunately, such attacks will still continue, and Belarus is increasingly participating in these attacks. The day before, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that Russia is actively transferring Iranian Shaheed 136 kamikaze drones to Belarus, and ammunition is being taken out of Belarus. According to intelligence data, as of October 10, 32 of these UAVs were brought into the country, and another 8 units are planned to be imported by October 14. Accordingly, all these drones can attack targets in Ukraine.
The Main Intelligence Directorate also reported that Belarus provides the occupying army with material and technical means and ammunition from its warehouses. In particular, a railway train with ammunition arrived at the Kirovskaya railway station in Crimea, which was sent from the 43rd arsenal for storing missiles and ammunition of the armed forces of Belarus in the Gomel region. In the near future, it is planned to move 13 echelons with weapons and military equipment, ammunition and military equipment from the arsenals and storage bases of the Belarusian army. That is, the Lukashenka regime will reopen its warehouses with weapons and transfer them to Russia in the hope that the Russians will be able to win and the punishment will bypass him.
Moreover, a number of strange statements were again made by Belarus today. Firstly, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said that from now on all state security agencies of Belarus will be subordinate only to him personally. It looks like Lukashenka is copying his comrade Putin. Why is this an important moment? The fact is that this is happening against the backdrop of an escalation of Russia's war against Ukraine and hints that Belarus may openly enter the war.
As previously reported, not everyone in the Belarusian security forces is in delighted with the prospect of participating in the war against Ukraine. Lukashenka is simply trying to avoid any protests among the security forces in advance.
This is especially important for Lukashenka now, because today the dictator ordered an inspection of the armed forces of Belarus. According to the Ministry of Defense of the republic, during the inspection, the military units will practice putting on alert, marching, as well as “deploying in designated areas with the implementation of combat training tasks.” Checking seems to be necessary to determine the readiness to perform tasks. Of course, they don’t say which ones they are.
However, a little earlier, the Minister of Defense of Belarus assured that they do not want a war with Ukraine if Ukraine does not provoke the Belarusians.
Here I just recall that this same Khrenin, a few days before the full-scale invasion on February 24, publicly stated that Belarus would not allow an attack on Ukraine from its territory. And even gave the word of an officer. What it costs – we all know.
However, the thief's hat is on fire. And so the KGB of Belarus announced what they expect and what they are probably preparing for. The head of the State Security Committee of Belarus, Ivan Tertel, believes that the period from November to February could become a turning point in the Russian war in Ukraine. In his opinion, this will encourage mobilization in Russia. Although he immediately adds that this is only possible if Russia manages to provide its group with technical means and advanced weapons. However, given that the Russians are raking out ammunition depots in Belarus, this seems extremely doubtful.
However, it is not worth saying that Belarus is preparing for an attack, and therefore announced another exercise and the deployment of Russian troops to the country. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War say the Kremlin may use additional Russian forces in Belarus to pin Ukrainian troops near Kyiv and prevent them from being transferred to other places to participate in counteroffensives.
Even friends condemned: how the missile terror of Russians changed the tactics of war
However, the Russians will definitely use Belarus to strike Ukraine from the air. However, another escalation against Ukraine turns the Kremlin into a new round of response from the West. The day before, Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov analyzed the massive missile attack from Russia and is confident that it was counterproductive and will have devastating consequences for Russia.If in recent months, in conversations with partners, we had to look for ways to prevent fatigue from Ukraine, now the Russians have done everything for us. They have clearly shown that they are deliberately arranging a humanitarian crisis that will hit not only Ukraine, but throughout Europe. The destruction of life support infrastructure can provoke new waves of refugees – hundreds of thousands of people who have returned from Europe may be forced to seek refuge there again, Reznikov stressed.
After that, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, also said that the massive rocket attacks on Ukraine showed the growing desperation of the Kremlin. Accordingly, according to Michel, the European Union remains firmly committed to supporting Ukraine politically, financially, militarily and humanitarianly, as well as in reconstruction and winterization needs.
At the same time, the presidents of 11 European countries, in a joint statement, condemned Russia's massive rocket attacks against Ukrainian cities, warning that this is a war crime without a statute of limitations. The joint statement was approved by the presidents of Bulgaria, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and, oddly enough, Hungary.
The United States said that Russia was planning massive airstrikes on Ukraine even before the explosion on the Crimean bridge. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby assured that attacks of this magnitude could not be planned in a few days, respectively, the Russians were preparing for the transition to a new stage of the war in advance.
Same opinion and French President Emmanuel Macron, who said that Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure are a “profound change in the nature” of the war. Accordingly, Macron plans to urgently convene his military and diplomatic advisers “to analyze the situation.”
And the majority of Western politicians are now talking about changing the nature of the war, they say, Putin, realizing that he is losing on the battlefield, is trying to destroy infrastructure in order to sow panic and chaos among Ukrainians. Related to this is the appointment of General Sergei Surovikin as commander of the occupation forces in Ukraine. According to British intelligence, this is an attempt to improve the conduct of military operations in Ukraine.
Intelligence recalls that during most of the war, Russia probably did not have a single field commander over its troops in Ukraine. General Aleksandr Dvornikov likely served in the post between April and August 2022, but it is not clear if he was able to effectively control Russia's often scattered and competing troop groups. However, Surovikin, too, will have to compete with an increasingly fragmented Russian Defense Ministry that lacks sufficient resources to achieve the political goals set by the Kremlin. So the only thing Surovikin can hope for is missile terror.
NATO is also actively responding to the new phase of the war. British Prime Minister Liz Truss today addressed the leaders of the “Big Seven” with a call to hold an urgent meeting of NATO leaders. In addition, she notes the persistence and increase of Western sanctions.
However, the United States is confident that Putin will only increase his terror in an attempt to still force the Ukrainians to make territorial concessions. Retired American lieutenant colonel Alexander Vindman, former director of European affairs at the US National Security Council, told CNN that if Putin's plan is to fail, the US must help Ukraine provide air defense.
The real target of terror: Russia threatens the West again
And now, after a series of missile attacks, Russia itself essentially admitted why it was doing this. The Kremlin still wants a deal, but on win-win terms. The fact is that after the terrorist attacks after the launch of the IPSO that Russia was preparing a new offensive, the Kremlin began to try to put pressure on the West. It was an action to intimidate not only Ukrainians.
The Russian Foreign Ministry immediately began to threaten Western countries. For example, after the Russian missile strikes and after Macron's announcement that France was ready to increase military aid, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Paris brazenly declared that Moscow's lethal strikes on Ukraine were a “logical consequence” of the latest events of the war. He said that Russia endured for a long time and gave Zelensky time to think and make concessions, but when this did not happen, Russia went on a new escalation. Moreover, a representative of the Russian embassy in Paris cynically added that the hit of a Russian missile in a playground in Kyiv on October 10 is allegedly the result of a malfunction of the Ukrainian air defense systems, because the Russians have “super-duper high-precision” missiles.
After that, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that Washington and its allies should not supply additional weapons to Ukraine, because this could lead to an escalation. But Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that Moscow could take “countermeasures” against the United States and its European allies because of their “growing involvement” in the conflict in Ukraine. And again he insisted that additional weapons should not be transferred to Ukraine.
That is, all these missile attacks are also an attempt to intimidate the West and discourage our partners from military assistance. However, it is clear that the West is unlikely to be afraid of Russia's threats, and therefore the essence of missile terror was put to rest by the Russian Foreign Ministry's butter-churner Sergey Lavrov, who said that the Kremlin hopes that Zelensky will change his mind and still go to negotiations with Putin under the onslaught of missile terror.< /p>
However, the Kremlin's calculations are in vain – even in the West, only a few outcasts call for negotiations, which means that missile terror fails.
