Russia’s army witnesses ‘Makiivka tragedy’

According to military observers, the fact that such a large number of soldiers and military material are stationed just a few kilometers from the front in a poorly protected building is a testament to the indifference of Russian generals towards their own people. As can be seen in the battle for the city of Bakhmut, these were regarded as cannon fodder.

The comments about the “debility” and “criminal incompetence” of the officers are correspondingly bitter. The search for someone to blame will soon lead to personal consequences, but criticism of President Vladimir Putin is out of the question.

What is probably the most fatal single attack for Russia since the sinking of the flagship “Moskva” in April also shows how effectively the Ukrainians are using their limited resources: six missiles were enough for them to achieve more lasting demoralization of the enemy than the Russians could with hundreds of cruise missiles and drones succeeded.

Ukrainian drone strikes in Crimea

In addition, in the past few days, Ukrainian drone attacks have been launched against the energy infrastructure in Bryansk and against military objects in Crimea and near Voronezh. The Russians are said to have recently moved long-range bombers to the Baltimore air force base there, some of which were damaged in similar attacks further inland in December.

Russia’s aerial attacks continue to wreak havoc and claim lives. They caused the power to go out in Kyiv again at times, and the artillery shelling is terrorizing the towns close to the front. In addition, an “Iskander” missile apparently hit the – at the time empty – military base of an elite unit in the western Ukrainian city of Khmelnitsky.

But even if individual warheads reached their target: the vast majority of them were shot down by air defense. Kyiv has to put up with the fact that expensive Western systems such as the recently delivered Nasams are used against cheap drones.

With the attacks, Russia’s army is also engaged in a propaganda battle with the Ukrainians, who claim they are running low on missiles. Kyiv points out that very old or completely new projectiles are increasingly being used. By combining its cruise missiles with drones and modified S-300 anti-missile missiles, Moscow is trying to compensate for problems in renewing its own arsenal, a spokesman for military intelligence said.

The actual status of Russian holdings remains classified, but the adjustment in strategy is no longer a secret. For example, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow explained that the attacks on the Ukrainian power grid had only a limited impact, in contrast to the previous ones, by saying that they were aimed at industrial companies and drone workshops. “The plans of the Kiev regime to commit terrorist attacks against the Russian Federation have been thwarted – goal achieved.”

Kremlin criticism also from prominent fascists

The Telegram service Rybar also claimed that the regular but more limited attacks had a new goal: “The adversary should not be able to expand its air defense capabilities.”

The great Russian fascist Igor Girkin, who is astonishingly critical of the Kremlin, made it clear that this is only part of the truth: Anyone who believes that Russia’s attacks could decisively disrupt Ukraine’s ability to wage war is delusional.

“There will be no uprising in Ukraine,” Girkin believes. In the worst-case scenario, anger at the attacks could even mobilize people even further. Putin, on the other hand, found it extremely difficult to formulate plausible war goals in his seemingly stiff New Year’s speech.

As can be seen on a video, the recruits in Makiivka also watched the speech while celebrating. Then only explosions can be heard – and the video breaks off.

More: UN High Commissioner on the Ukraine war: “The perpetrators must know that they will not go unpunished”