russia is preparing for a massive missile strike against Ukraine: is it true or is it IPSO?
7 March 2024 17:48
EXCLUSIVE
Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities in 2024 only slightly intensified towards the end of February. Until then, their intensity was significantly lower than in the same period last year. This allowed the media to say that the Russians could be stockpiling ammunition to launch a combined massive strike on Ukrainian cities one morning. Kommersant Ukrainian 
asked military experts how realistic this scenario is.
A shelter is a shelter?
Military expert and blogger Oleh Zhdanov is convinced that Russia is planning to use all the missiles prepared for Ukraine.
“Yes, indeed, there is information that lists the airfields, the number of aircraft and the possible number of missiles that are ready for use. I would say that I would prepare for the fact that I would have to sit in bomb shelters. Sooner or later, given the number of missiles that Russia is accumulating, it will still drop them on our heads. Unfortunately, we haven’t won the war yet, so we can’t count on humanity or humanity from the Russians,”
– the expert said.
At the same time, Zhdanov suggests that the “pause” in the shelling of Ukraine may be purely “technical”. After all, the condition of Russian bombers is deteriorating and it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to perform combat missions.
“This pause may be due to the technical condition of the bombers, especially the TU-95. They can take 10 missiles, but these are very old machines, and it is difficult to give them a full bomb load. Given the latest missile strikes, we have seen that they can only carry a maximum of 4 missiles per aircraft, or even 2. This means that they simply cannot pull, the engines no longer pull the normal number of missiles. Therefore, they need to be maintained and repaired,”
– zhdanov said.
The expert added that he still expects some intensification of Russian observations after Putin’s “elections”, which are scheduled for 15-17 March.
Or the Russian IPSO?
However, discussions and expectations of a future Russian super-strike may turn out to be a banal element of hybrid warfare and a common Russian IPSO.
“This is a common element of information warfare. From time to time, they throw in similar claims about some big missile strike or some offensive. For example, remember how they said they would repeat the attack on Kyiv. So it’s just their IPSO, which they are promoting quite actively,”
– said Ihor Reiterovych, head of political and legal programmes at the Ukrainian Centre for Social Development.
Thus, according to the political expert, Russia is traditionally working to stir up panic in Ukrainian society.
“It’s more like panic-mongering and trying to divert attention from some other issues that they are interested in and trying to focus on,”
– reuters added.
Meanwhile, Russian aviation continues to actively use bombers in Ukraine, despite the fact that Ukraine has shot down several dozen Russian aircraft over the past two weeks. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that in this way Russia is ready to sacrifice aircraft in exchange for maintaining a high rate of offensive.
“Festival of security deals”
Against the backdrop of disappointing news from the US Congress, the “Festival of Security Agreements with Ukraine” is gaining momentum, with Western countries guaranteeing our security under bilateral agreements such as the Budapest Memorandum. Ukraine has already signed such agreements with the UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, Canada and the Netherlands. Under these agreements, these states pledge to support Ukraine in the face of the Russian threat with finance, weapons and humanitarian aid.
The United States and Poland may be among the next signatories, as it is known that the government is negotiating with these countries.
For example, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, said that two rounds of talks between Ukraine and the US have already taken place on the content and content of the relevant agreement with the US government.
Ukraine is desperately trying to gain the support of the world. In particular, the following 5 points of the Ukrainian Formula for Peace were presented at this year’s Davos Economic Forum.
