Recent attacks are part of an escalating missile and drone duel between the two countries
3 January 2024
Russian forces are targeting Ukraine’s defence industry with long-range strikes in a tactical switch as Moscow prepares for a long war, British intelligence officials have said.
The attacks are part of an escalating missile and drone duel between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides bidding to degrade one another’s military and industrial capacities while the front lines remain largely static.
The Ministry of Defence assessment came as Kyiv launched a wave of strikes on occupied Crimea and a Russian border region on Wednesday in what appeared to be a retaliatory assault for a barrage on Ukrainian cities the previous day.
Britain’s MoD said Moscow’s volley of around 100 high-velocity projectiles aimed at the capital, Kyiv, and Kharkiv on Tuesday had likely targeted Ukrainian drone and missile producers.
“This contrasts with its major attacks last winter, which prioritised striking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” the department said.
“Russia appeared set to restart this campaign by hitting energy sites in early December 2023,” it added.
“These new operations suggest at least a temporary change of approach in Russia’s long-range strikes. Russian planners almost certainly recognise the growing importance of relative defence industrial capacity as they prepare for a long war.”
A defence industry source in Ukraine told the Economist that recent strikes had been targeted at sites connected to domestic missile and drone production.
“The attacks had strategic meaning for the enemy, with the aim of reducing our capacity to strike,” the source said. “It’s a battle to see who can destroy more of the enemy’s long-range weapons.”
Ukrainian strikes deep behind enemy lines have followed a similar pattern, as Kyiv seeks to disrupt Russia’s ability to launch missiles and drones.
It is likely to become a battle of endurance as both sides move to improve their air-defence systems to protect valuable targets on the ground.
Russian forces have taken to using vast barrages combining Iranian-made kamikaze drones and dozens of types of missiles to evade surface-to-air interceptors.
“Its forces have committed a significant portion of the stock of air-launched cruise missiles and ballistic missiles they had built up over recent months,” the MoD’s intelligence update said.
But Ukrainian officials dispute that Russia had shifted away from civilian targets, such as heating and power stations, in the hope of freezing the war-torn country into submission during the cold winter months.
Yuriy Sak, a senior adviser to Ukraine’s strategic industries minister, said: “I saw the destroyed residential homes, shopping malls, maternity wards, railway stations, and the high numbers of civilian casualties.
“These are facts. Everything else is speculation.”
The strikes on Belgorod Wednesday were said to have been aimed at an ammunition bunker just south of the city, some 20 miles from Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia.
Russian air defences destroyed 12 Ukrainian missiles fired at Belgorod, local officials said.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the region’s governor, said: “The situation in Belgorod continues to be tense. There were two attacks in the morning.”
He added Ukraine had also launched several drones targeting the city. Russia has said 25 civilians including five children were killed in Ukrainian attacks on Saturday, and the wider region.
Footage shared on social media purportedly showed a plume of smoke rising into the sky on the outskirts of the city. Explosions, which are characteristic of burning munitions, could be heard in one clip.
Another aerial attack damaged infrastructure and caused power cuts in the Kursk region, to the north of Belgorod, its governor Roman Starovoyt said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, in occupied Crimea, local authorities said a Ukrainian missile was downed over the port city of Sevastopol.
The missile was reportedly aimed at Belbek air base, from which Russia has frequently launched jets used to conduct bombing sorties in Ukraine.
Residents of the nearby villages of Fructovoye and Verkhnesadovoye reported hearing loud explosions before witnessing a bright flash of light in the area near the base.
A plume of smoke was also spotted following the explosion.
The Telegraph could not independently verify the reports.
Kyiv has yet to comment on Wedneday’s attacks.
Russia has launched a series of major drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent days, marking some of the most intense strikes since the war began in February 2022.
The strikes killed more than 50 people, with some 330 others wounded, and prompted Kyiv to intensify its calls for more weapons and ammunition from the West.
Kyiv said on Tuesday that Russia had launched more than 300 attack drones and missiles of various kinds at cities across Ukraine since Friday.
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Comment from :
Auclan McIntyre:
“I don’t think Russia will change its tactics. They’re too sunk in their ways. As for Belgorod, well done Ukraine. The Russians don’t like it up em.”
James Horton:
“Comrades, wonderful news!
Russia’s egg crisis is resolved!
Three sources in the Ministry of Agriculture immediately admitted to us that, as part of solving the “ egg problem ,” Russia may purchase artificial eggs, the bulk of which are now produced in China.
They are much cheaper and more accessible. We currently purchase eggs from several countries. At the same time, they put pressure on us and demand that we urgently solve the problem. And artificial eggs are completely safe for health, affordable, and so on. A good solution to this very problem,” said one of the sources.
Another admitted that “medium-sized” test batches of artificial eggs had already been purchased and sent to store shelves in a number of regions of the country. “We conducted research, no one distinguished these eggs from real ones,” says the source.
At the same time, our good friend in the Ministry of Health is wary of artificial eggs and urges us not to buy them. “The problem is that such fake eggs have not yet been sufficiently researched. Some say that they are safe, others say that they can cause cancer, various disorders in pregnant women and other health problems. While the issue is being studied, I would not eat such a product”
By the way, according to our information, Vladimir Putin currently knows nothing about the purchase of artificial eggs.
Footnote; Fake eggs have been produced in China since the mid ‘90s, according to a 2012 Time article and could be produced at about half the cost of real eggs. Beyond the ingredients sounding unappetizing, resin, starch, coagulant, pigments, and sodium alginate extracted from brown algae for the egg white; a different mix of resin and pigments for the yolk; and paraffin wax, gypsum powder and calcium carbonate for the shell. Yummy!”
A kremtroll rat calling itself “Rupert Scott” writes:
“It’s good that the Russians are aiming for military targets, not civilians.
There aren’t many things to celebrate in this grim war, but the low rate of civilian casualties is one of them.
It’s very different in Gaza.”
Reply from Nostra Damus:
“You are full of it, comrade. All Russia does is target civilians in an effort to break the will of the people. What Russia does not understand, though, is that these attacks only strengthen the resolve of the Ukrainian people.”
Graham Boyd:
“Putin’s war is getting closer to the Russian people by the day. Soon enough even they will start questioning what on earth the point of this failure was.”
Another dirtbag kremtroll: “Scott Glennister” writes:
“This nonsense propaganda tries to make out that Ukraine hasn’t already lost.”
Reply from M Bilewycz:
“A massive strategic defeat for Russia, comrade:
1. Not only has it failed to take Ukraine as it had planned;
2. Russia has now lost large tracts of territory it has taken, Kharkiv and Kherson and their adjacent territories being just examples; Ukraine has also established a bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnipro;
3. Your leader Putin has turned Russia into an international pariah, and no sane and civilised developed country will trade with Russia;
4. Putin has succeeded in turning the neutral countries Finland and Sweden into NATO allies, and it won’t be long before Sweden will have joined Finland as fully fledged NATO members.
We understand that you and your fellow Russian trolls have to lie as it’s your job, but your tales are wearing thin, and you should not be surprised if you get your call-up papers.
In that event, you should not expect any sympathy from us.”
The title is very misleading. Mafia land might be aiming at the one or other military or military relevant target, but most are still purely civilian in nature. Why use such a title?
And, I haven’t seen any evidence that mafia land is preparing for a long war. For all we know, Putler wants it to end ASAP. As a matter of fact, he so stated this. Of course, we can dump most of what he says. But, fact is that mafia land can’t produce weapons fast enough to replace the ones being destroyed, so the longer this war lasts, the less material he has. His supply of meat puppets is also not limitless.
The evidence from the experts is that putler is preparing for a long war. It is now a wartime economy with 30% going into the process of murdering Ukrainians.
If puker loses 300,000 orcs/yr for the next two years, he will be happy because Ukraine might have lost up to half of that amount and unlike putlerstan their people are irreplaceable.
The only thing that will stop him is when he is consistently losing orcs at an untenable rate. That will be 3000/day.
The “experts” said that Ukraine needs to hit a kill rate of 8-1 in their favour. They may have even hit that, but unfortunately it’s still not enough.
If putler kills enough Ukrainian soldiers this year, he will win.
Although “long war” is a relative term, looking at the whole picture, I still can’t see any possibility for mafia land to be engaged in a long war. Maybe some in mafia land are planning for it, but plans and reality are two different pairs of shoes. Hitler also had plans that went beyond 1950, and we know how that ended.
Putler will continue indefinitely. Even if defeated. Only his death and a liberal revolution can end it.
We know that he will stop now, but only if Ukraine is partitioned on the lines of the land he claims.
Trump will deliver it for him. Or at least try to.