Vladimir Putin’s army is not succeeding in Ukraine as much of the world believed that it would, and it has the Kremlin quickly backed into a corner.
In all reality, Russia no longer appears to be much of a military threat on the world’s stage at all, and this is a severely diminishing notion for Putin. It also devalues his relationships with nations like China, who originally believed that they’d have a mighty military ally when shaking the former KGB agent’s hand.
And you can see Putin’s desperation in the skies of Ukraine this week, after he retaliated for the Kerch bridge explosion with a wide-ranging missile attack.
KYIV and DNIPRO, UKRAINE, and MOSCOW — Explosions rocked several cities across Ukraine in the most extensive attack on the country since the early days of Russia’s invasion in February. The attacks came only hours after Russia blamed Ukraine for a weekend explosion that partially damaged a strategic bridge that connects Russian-occupied Crimea to mainland Russia.
Ukrainian emergency services report that several people are dead across the country, including at least five people in the the capital Kyiv, which hasn’t been hit since June. It’s also the closest strike to the center of the city since the war began, coming just over 1,000 yards from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office.
Putin immediately attempted to justify the attacks.
In a video address to his Security Council, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were a necessary response to what he argued were repeated “terrorist attacks” by Ukraine on critical Russian infrastructure — including the bridge, pipelines, and nuclear power plants.
“This morning, a massive high-precision strike was conducted on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, military command, and communications,” said Putin. “In case Ukrainian terrorist attacks continue on Russian territory, our response will be tough and proportional.”
It is believed that Russia is running low on munitions, giving this strike a great deal of gravity within the Kremlin’s calculations.
