Ukrainian Military Analyst Clarifies Russian Strike On Voronezh Region

Russian missiles are dangerous also for Russians themselves.

On December 29, Russia launched its largest missile attack on Ukraine, causing destruction and causing deaths and injuries in a number of cities. The occupiers used 158 missiles and drones. On the morning of January 2, the Russian Federation actually repeated the missile attack of December 29, both in the types of missiles and in the number of air attack weapons.

Why did the Russians resort to such big strikes? The Charter97.org website spoke about this with co-director of foreign policy and international security programs at the Razumkov Center, first assistant to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine (2005–2008), military expert Oleksiy Melnik:

— I don’t know how accurate the wording “transitioned” is, it already happened in the past, there was just a long break. This accumulated throughout the autumn; there was practically no use of cruise missiles in large quantities. But there were constant drone attacks, which can be assessed as preparation for such massive attacks. There was an air defense reconnaissance, an attempt to deplete it and an accumulation of missiles, so nothing new and unpredictable is happening.

— How many missiles could the Russian occupiers have accumulated?

— There are different estimates, but in any case, if we take into account production capabilities, then this is several dozen per month for each of these types. If we consider the strikes that are carried out on the front-line zone, especially on Kharkiv, then the S-300 missiles are used there, and their reserves are practically inexhaustible, the number goes to several thousand. They pose the greatest danger because they are low-precision weapons, very lethal, and the approach time practically does not allow for a reaction, even in terms of warning of danger.

— Today, a Russian missile fell on a village in the Voronezh region. What could have caused such an incident?

— Again, this is not the first time. The reasons may be different, but this suggests that wherever a Russian missile flies, it poses a danger. This may be the territory of the Russian Federation itself; on December 29, a flight over the territory of Poland was recorded; before that there was Romania and Moldova. That is, these missiles are dangerous not only for Ukraine and neighboring countries, but also for the population of the Russian Federation itself.

Unfortunately, I have no hope that the Russians themselves understand this. Before that, there were two bombs that fell on Belgorod from a Russian plane, and rockets fell in the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions. But there was no public reaction to this, nothing suggests that this time anything will be different.