Ukraine, Bringing the Conflict 'Back to Russia'

"You can be sure people are getting chewed out. There is going to be a lot of turmoil in the [Russian] command structure." 

"[Russia's air defense systems designed to counter NATO air power limits impact of the strikes, but the Kremlin will be forced to reposition aircraft, redeploy military assets to counter the growing threat from Ukraine]."

"Those have to come from somewhere, so there is going to be a loss of protection somewhere."

Frederick Hodges, former top US Army Europe commander

An explosion in Rostov-on-Don during the latest drone attack. Social media

Last week one of Russia's largest military hubs on Thursday was the target of explosions before dawn. The area in the southern region of Rostov is home to a Russian command center focusing on Russian forces in Ukraine. Although Russian officials claimed air defenses shot down two drones, their source was unclear. What is perfectly clear is the statement by Ukrainian officials that such strikes represent a legitimate method of fighting the invasion that Russia imposed on Ukraine.

At least one of the explosions occurred over the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, home to the Russian southern military headquarters, a key command center for its forces prosecuting the war in Ukraine. A series of videos showing an explosion in the city center were posted on Russian news outlets. What caused the blast, however, remained undetermined, while the Russian Defense Ministry claimed drone attacks in other regions had been thwarted.

Falling debris of two drones said to have been shot down by Russian air defense had damaged cars and buildings, according to regional Rostov governor Vasily Golubev. One drone fell in the city center, he posted on the Telegram messaging app. The address he listed is directly across from the military headquarters, while another drone was shot down outside the city in the region's west, according to his accounting.

Ukraine has markedly stepped up its assaults within Russia in recent weeks, using a variety of weapons to strike military targets across the country. And according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the strikes represent a "fair and just" determination to take the war home to Russia. A week earlier, a wave of exploding drones targeted six Russian regions, an airfield near the border with Estonia among them, where military cargo planes suffered damage.

Airports around Moscow in recent days have been temporarily suspending flights of necessity every morning related to drone activity. A sign, say analysts, that even as Ukraine continues to ask Western allies to supply it with badly needed long-range weapons, Ukrainian arms makers have succeeded in building a homegrown arsenal capable of hitting Russian territory at great distances by land, by air, and by sea.

According to retired American lieutenant general Frederick Hodges, the strikes hitting Russia would have a cumulative effect -- with the potential of harming the Russian economy, heightening tensions in the Russian military command -- already in an unsettled condition reflecting the fallout from Russian mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's short-lived mutiny -- and related setbacks in the Ukraine war.

Even so, Russian territorial strikes haven't caused the kind of damage comparable to Russia's deadly attacks on Ukrainian cities. Izmail, a port city on the Danube River, was attacked by Russia for the fourth time in five days. Ukraine is merely delivering to Russia a little of its own neighbourly attention with the intention of demonstrating not only that it is capable of giving as good as it gets, but getting better at it.

 

More recently, naval targets and port infrastructure in Crimea saw attacks representing one of Ukraine's largest strikes on the Russian navy's Black Sea Fleet, with a launch of 10 missiles and three unmanned attack vessels, causing a large fire at a Sevastopol shipyard. Leading the Moscow-installed governor to claim most weapons had been intercepted, but not before two ships sustained damage. 

 

According to a statement out of Ukraine the implication was that cruise missiles supplied by the west had been used in the attack. 

A photo shared by the Russian-installed governor on Telegram showed flames engulfing what appeared to be a vessel   Mikhail Razvozhayev

An evaluation of the attack, judging its significance on the Black Sea fleet, saw a large landing ship, the Minsk, and a submarine, the Rostov-on-Don, both in dry dock, damaged. The Ria Novosti state-run news agency quoted the Russian Defence Ministry as stating both vessels scheduled for full repairs to return them to active service. 

"We confirm a large landing vessel and submarine were hit. We do not comment on the means (used) for the strike", commented Ukrainian military intelligence official Andriy Yusov.

Ukraine has strongly implied western-supplied cruise missiles were used  Reuters