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The Russians are changing their approach and their attacks are becoming more devastating. The British public broadcaster BBC News wrote this on its website on Wednesday evening, saying that the tactics of the attacking Russians were also changing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to intensify attacks on Ukraine, and Kiev now understands what he meant, writes the BBC, recalling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s words on Tuesday that the invading troops would launch 500 missiles in just a few days and launched attack drones against Ukraine for five days. Six dozen civilians were killed across the country, most of them on Friday, December 29, when Russia launched one of the largest airstrikes in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has not experienced attacks as strong as now, and the difference lies not only in the range of the attacks, but also in the tactics, writes the BBC. According to her, the attack lasted six hours on January 2nd. The Russians first sent a wave of drones to Kiev. At the same time, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had managed to shoot down all 35 attacking drones. However, rocket attacks followed and the Russians used various types of weapons.
Both hypersonic and cruise missiles
“They are still trying to find a better way to break through our air defense systems and make their attack more effective,” said Oleksandr Musienko of the Center for Military-Legal Research of Ukraine. Therefore, the Russians use different types of missiles – hypersonic, flat-trajectory and ballistic – and, moreover, send them on different routes, while the weapons can change direction in the air over Ukraine. This makes the work of the Ukrainian air defense even more difficult.
According to the BBC, Russia is also changing the targets of attacks and the way it prepares for them. On Friday, December 29th, cities across Ukraine were bombed, and on Tuesday, January 2nd, “only” Kiev and Kharkiv were bombed. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s secret service SBU announced on Tuesday that it had found and disabled “two robotic online surveillance cameras” that were allegedly hacked by Russia and used to spy on Ukraine’s defenses and spy on targets.
How long Moscow can continue these large-scale attacks is unclear, according to the BBC. Before winter, Ukraine feared that the enemy was accumulating weapons for large-scale attacks. French newspaper Le Monde quotes Ukrainian officials as saying that Russia still has about 1,000 ballistic or cruise missiles and is capable of producing about 100 more per month.
Musiyenko points out that Ukraine is also preparing, which he says is using, for example, German-made Gepard anti-aircraft weapons to combat Russian drones, Soviet-era Buk systems against surface-to-air missiles and American Patriot systems for Kinzhal hypersonic missiles Rockets. “We have divided our systems for different types of threats,” explains Musiyenko, who says Kiev depends on the West for ammunition and maintenance of these weapons.
This is now crucial for Ukraine, the BBC stresses, reminding us that essential American military aid is stuck in internal political struggles and the European Union cannot produce even half of the millions of artillery shells promised. According to the British broadcaster, Russia may launch a large-scale attack at a time when Ukraine’s weapons supplies could dry up.
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