THIS WEEK IN UKRAINE: MASSIVE MISSILE STRIKES AND pUTIN’S RESPONSE

     In the traditional weekly review prepared by the Information Defense experts, you will read about the following issues:

     Why did russia resort to massive missile terror against Ukraine?

     Will the Ukrainian air defense system be built?

     Are our partners interested in a decent response to putin's missile terror?

     MASS MISSILE TERROR

     On Monday, October 10 russian aggressors launched a massive attack with 84 missiles and 24 UAVs on peaceful cities and villages of Ukraine. The air defense forces managed to shoot down 43 missiles and 13 drones. 19 people died, 105 were injured, about 4 thousand settlements were left without heat and light. What goals did putin set for himself when he returned to the tactics of mass missile terror?

     Goal one: to return Ukraine to the Middle Ages, to destroy our critical civilian infrastructure, our thermal and hydroelectric plants, heat networks and power lines, and eventually “freeze” us.

     According to the enemy's calculations, systemic damage to critical infrastructure should lead to a decrease in the stability of the country's defense, create problems with logistics, the supply of weapons and fuel to the front, and the maneuvering of reserves. And the most important thing is to bring cold and darkness to the homes of peaceful Ukrainians. But the enemy made a mistake. Thanks to the hard work of our energy workers, it was possible to eliminate the damage in a few days. In addition, the multiple backup of Ukraine's energy system, facilitated in Soviet times, played an important role.

     The second goal: to break the Ukrainian nation, sow panic, distrust of the Armed Forces and the government among Ukrainians.

     In 1921, the Italian General Douhet published his book The Command of the Air, in which he argued that any military conflict could be won by launching massive airstrikes to psychologically pressure the population and force them to surrender. World War II proved that his concept was wrong.

     Massive air raids by the Luftwaffe between July and October 1940 during the Battle of Britain did not force the British to surrender and conduct peace negotiations. The British fought and won and it did not break their spirit.

     We, Ukrainians, stand firm and will not let our spirit be broken. Instead of panic and despair, putin received multi-million curses from my compatriots and an ever-increasing hatred of Rashists.

     The third goal: the internal russian point

     Recently, putin's position among the elite and cheering patriots has significantly weakened. Representatives of the russian political class asked a natural question: Where is the capture of Kyiv in three days and the promised quick victory? Instead, russian billionaires received sanctions, confiscation of property and problems inside russia.

     Russian patriots considered putin's actions insufficiently tough, sluggish and toothless and demanded another escalation of military operations, strikes on decision-making centers and critical infrastructure facilities. The situation became especially acute after the destruction of the Crimean bridge, which was not the cause, but only a convenient propaganda pretext for mass rocket attacks last week.       In this way, the Kremlin dictator managed to somewhat calm the elites’ hysteria. However, it is clear that putin could not completely neutralize the underlying causes of the growing crisis.

     With further successes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, crisis phenomena among the russian elite will only grow. And sooner or later, this will lead to one of the high-ranking russian officials or businessmen questioning putin’s authority.

pUTIN AS ANTI-MIDAS

     According to an ancient Greek legend, the gods gave King Midas a fabulous ability: everything he touched turned to gold. putin, on the contrary, has a remarkable feature for Ukrainians: he is anti-Midas. Everything he touches turns to crap, to its opposite.

     He spoke against the expansion of NATO up to the war with Ukraine – and consequently Finland and Sweden have applied for membership, which will lead to an increase of the NATO-backed land border with russia by two thousand kilometers. He set the task of occupying Kyiv in three days - and the Armed Forces of Ukraine won a brilliant victory near Kharkiv. The list goes on.

     That's how it turned out this time. Instead of panic and the destruction of Ukraine's defense potential as a result of a massive missile attack, putin received a qualitative increase in military aid to our country and the recognition of russia as a terrorist state.

     Recently, meetings in the Rammstein format have turned into a routine, during which the logistics of arms supplies to Ukraine were ensured according to a well-planned scheme. The main political decisions "what and when to deliver" were made in advance in the capitals of the leading Western states and were only voiced during the communication between the defense ministers of 50 countries that support our country.

     But thanks to the nefarious actions of the Kremlin, Rammstein-6 decisions were made that qualitatively change the system of arms supplies to Ukraine.

     First, the old taboos regarding air defense systems, which were previously supplied in very limited quantities, have been lifted.

     It is not only about increasing the supply of the number of air defense divisions and expanding the range of supplies (even the supply of super modern Patriot systems was discussed).

     In fact, we are already talking about the creation of a nationwide integrated air defense system in Ukraine, the batteries of which will overlap each other, with the use of systems of echeloned combat against air targets of short, medium and long range. Thus, our partners are ready to help in creating reliable protection of our settlements, our "Iron Dome" made of Azovsteel steel, not in the distant future, but right now.

     Second, if previously the partner countries were very careful and restrained about the intensification of military and technical assistance to Ukraine, then during the last meeting of the defense ministers, on the contrary, they enthusiastically looked for new opportunities to supply weapons to our country.

     Joe Biden signed a new Decree on aid to Ukraine in the amount of $675 million. Poland handed over 150 Starlink terminals to Ukraine; Portugal, six Soviet rotorcraft; Spain, four Hawk air defense systems; the UK, missiles for NASAMS air defense equipment. Even careful probing of the topic of supplying German Leopards, which was previously unacceptable to all, has been initiated.

     Ukraine needs modern equipment and weapons to win. We once again tell our partners - provide us with weapons and the Armed Forces of Ukraine will do the rest themselves.

     rUSSIA IS A TERRORIST STATE

     On the foreign policy front, russia also received quite sensitive blows. French President Emmanuel Macron said for the first time that Ukraine should restore its borders within the 1991 borders.

     The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) recognized the russian federation as a country with a terrorist regime. 99 deputies voted "for", one abstained. PACE is the first international organization to recognize russia as a terrorist country.

     It is noteworthy that the PACE document was amended with a call to provide Ukraine with air defense equipment.

     Furthermore, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning russia's holding of fake pseudo referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. We were supported by 143 of the 193 UNGA member countries. And only four countries – Russia's traditional satellites Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Nicaragua voted against it.

     The importance of the resolutions of international organizations should not be underestimated. Although, at first glance, with them you won't shoot and you won't kill the invaders.

     Each attack that russia misses on the foreign policy front is a brick in the foundation of our future victory and the new architecture of world security, where Ukraine will continue to play a role.

     Ihor Zhdanov, Information Defense Project, The “Open Policy” Foundation