The Kremlin fears the public's reaction to Ukraine's strikes deep into russia. This issue is a sensitive one for vladimir putin's inner circle.
According to RBC-Ukraine's sources, a decision on strikes deep into russia will still be made, and this greatly irritates the russians. In addition to addressing purely military and logistical objectives, such as significantly reducing the aggressors' military potential, these strikes could also provoke discontent among the russian population.
“Our intelligence is confident that such attacks on russia can shake up their population, and this will force the Kremlin towers to think about something and come up with some solutions. Of course, we do not know what is in the minds of the russians. But the hysteria on the other side shows that we have probably touched on a painful topic for them,”
says one of the interlocutors.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Western approval for long-range strikes would reduce the intensity of russia's attacks on Ukraine.
Moreover, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Office of the President, commented on the strike on a depot in Toropets, Tver region, in an interview with the RBC-Ukraine. He clarified that permission to strike deep into russia would significantly increase the number of such attacks.
While waiting for a green light from Western countries to use their long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside russia, Ukraine is relying on domestically produced drones, which are considerably cheaper than missiles and no less effective.
In recent months, Ukraine has increased the number of strikes using homemade drones against russian critical infrastructure essential to powering russia's war machine. Faced with attacks using dozens of drones at once, the russian air defense proved to be overstretched and not always effective.
"Despite russia's extensive air defense capabilities, there are limitations to protecting all targets effectively,"
Mattias Eken, a defense and security expert at RAND Europe, told the Kyiv Independent.
"The objective is to demonstrate to the russian populace that the state's defense capabilities are insufficient, highlighting vulnerabilities within russia,"
Eken added.
@ukrainejournal
