2023-04-28 13:34:24
The inhabitants of central and western Ukraine had finally forgotten the sound of sirens at dawn. On the morning of February 28, several cities woke up under the blows of anti-aircraft defense systems put to use by a new wave of Russian strikes.
According to Ukrainian authorities, 23 Russian missiles were fired from strategic bombers flying over the Caspian. In total, the Ukrainian army announced that it had shot down “21 X-101/X-555 type cruise missiles out of a total of 23 as well as two drones”.
The greatest damage was observed in Uman, a medium-sized city 200 km south of kyiv, where a missile fell on an apartment building. At least 17 people were killed, a toll that could be higher given the destruction.
Another Russian strike on Dnipro, a large city in central eastern Ukraine, killed “a young woman and a three-year-old child”, lamented Mayor Borys Filatov. In kyiv, on the other hand, the defense systems seem to have destroyed the 11 Russian missiles. This is the first time since March that the capital has suffered an attack of such magnitude.
1,200 missiles fired against energy installations
Over the winter, Russia carried out a massive bombing campaign against Ukrainian power plants in the hope of depriving the country of its energy resources. Each week, dozens of missiles targeted major cities, causing regular blackouts in the middle of winter. Until early April, the Russians fired a total of 1,200 missiles against their adversary’s energy infrastructure. Despite the damage suffered, the Ukrainian technical teams succeeded the next day in connecting the lines to new generators supplied by the European Union.
“Russia’s missile campaign will definitely fail, and Russia appears to have abandoned the effort,” noted however at the beginning of April the Institute for the Study of War. Proof of this failure, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy announced on April 8 the resumption of electricity exports to neighboring Moldova.
But the strikes, although considerably reduced, have never completely ceased, forcing the Ukrainians to draw on their reserves of surface-to-air missiles which are reaching dangerously low levels, according to several Western intelligence services.
A Russian device ready to absorb the shock
These difficulties could hamper plans for a counter-offensive in the east and south at a time when the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announces that “Preparations are coming to an end”. NATO allies and their partners have provided Ukraine with 230 combat tanks and 1,550 armored vehicles to help it retake occupied territories.
To this material effort, nearly 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers were trained in Europe and the United States to form 9 new brigades. “The Russian force, even exhausted by its effort, will still have enough reserves of men to help absorb the shock”, warn, however, Philippe Gros and Vincent Tourret, in a study for the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS).
#failed #russian #missile #launches