Ukraine’s nine-month war escalated after Kiev struck deep inside Russia with predator drones, killing three Russian soldiers and damaging at least two Russian strategic bombers. Pentagon planners tried to confine Ukraine’s attacks to inside Ukraine, limiting the rage of U.S.-made HIMARS missile defense systems. But Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has beat back any international attempts at diplomacy by using modified Russian TU-131 Soviet era drones to attack deep inside the Russian Federation. Zelensky rejected any attempts made by 44-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron who’s been working with world leaders feverishly on a ceasefire and peace plan. Zelensky’s answer was to strike Russian airbases deep inside the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin, 70, responded with a flurry of new missile strikes.
Kiev’s 51-year-old mayor Vitali Klitschko warned residents about an apocalyptic scenario where Kiev runs out of electricity, water and heat as the winter proceeds, prompting warning to evacuate the capital. Putin continues to strike Ukraine’s infrastructure, including electricity plants and water services in an effort to bring Zelensky to the peace table. Zelensky’s demands for a ceasefire are unrealistic, expecting all Russian troops to leave the country, including troops in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea. Putin had troops in the three regions before the Feb. 24 war. Putin offered Zelensky in March to end the “special military operation” if he recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhank, and accepted Crimea as part of Russian. Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer and with unlimited U.S. cash-and-lethal weapons decided to take on the Kremlin in a protracted war.
Kiev refuses to claim responsibility for the attacks of Russian airbases deep inside Russia, despite touting the new asymmetric warfare model of using drones. Zelensky said yesterday that he was inclined to use drones as a new asymmetric warfare strategy. So, no one at the Kremlin or anywhere else believes that the recent drone attacks on Russian airbases came anywhere but Kiev. President Joe Biden, 80, has shown no interest in moving the conflict from the battlefield to the peace table. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that advancing new weapons to Ukraine makes the U.S. an enemy combatant to the Kremlin. More escalation increases the chances, as Macron warns, of miscalculation, extending the battlefield beyond Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 59, didn’t deny that the new predator drone attacks inside Russia were approved by the White House.
Blinken says the U.S. will continue supplying Ukraine defensive weapons systems to defend sovereignty and territorial. But recent predator drone attacks on Russian airbases indicates a major escalation in the conflict. Klitschko, without saying it, worries that more damage done to Kiev’s infrastructure could make the city uninhabitable, certainly over the winter. Pro-Russian leader of the Peoples Republic of Donetsk Denis Pushilin said the battle for Donetsk has been in the trenches, seeing Russian forces making progress in capturing the city of Bakhmut. Pushilin sees Russian forces consolidating efforts in Donetsk after leaving Khakiv and Kherson. Kiev claimed great victories in Kharkiv and Kherson, after Russia occupied the territory since the war started Feb. 24. Pushilin said Russian troops are encircling Bakhmut, getting closer to seizing the territory.
Zelensky has accused Putin to war crimes for targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure in its major cities, claiming Putin can’t win any other way. But it Zelensky wants to end the carnage and infrastructure destruction, he should think of ways to bring the conflict to an end. Putin isn’t about to abandon the Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and certainly won’t surrender the Crimean Peninsula. Klitschko helped lead the Feb. 22, 2014 coup that toppled the Kremlin-friendly government of Viktor Yanukovych. But once Putin defended the coup, he annexed Crimea to protect his Sevastopol naval base. Zelensky knows the history but pretends the Feb. 22, 2014 coup was a naked land grab by the Kremlin. With Kiev falling into hostile Western forces, Putin had no choice but to seize Crimea to protect Russia’s warm water fleet. Today’s Ukraine War directly relates to the 2014 CIA-backed coup.
Putin’s response to Zelensky’s drone attacks on Russian airbases will be more missile strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure, leaving Klitscho to wonder how long Kiev residents can hold out. “Kiev might lose power, water, and heat supply. The apocalypse might happen, like in Hollywood films, when it’s not possible to live in homes considering the low temperature,” Klitscho said. Klitscho is the first to tell Zelensky to keep up the fight, no matter what the consequences. Zelsnsky doesn’t see any way out other than war, despite the fact that his government is bankrupt, relying mainly on billions in U.S. aid. Macron has tried to show Zelensky the logic of letting U.N. peacemakers work on a ceasefire and peace talks to prevent Ukraine from losing more infrastructure and human life. Zelensky and Klitschko see no alternative to war, hoping one day to drive Russia out of Ukraine.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
