Russia and Ukraine toughen attacks: what has happened to the conflict in Europe?

This Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine toughened the exchange of missile and drone attacks against the enemy rearguardwithout significant advances by any of the parties on the front line, although Moscow claims to take the initiative.

Ukrainian air defense systems shot down 19 of 20 Shahed fixed-wing drones launched this morning by the Russian Army against several regions in the southern half of Ukraineaccording to the Ukrainian war report.

Five Ukrainian regions under attack

The Ukrainian Air Force stated that the Shahed were shot down in the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Mikolayiv, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd.

In the port city of Odessa (Black Sea) at least three people were injured in the attack this morning, which was added to last night's missile attack against Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, where 16 were injured.

The head of the military administration of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegúbov, indicated that the Russian Army launched two S-300 anti-aircraft missiles modified to hit ground targets that hit a residential area in the center of the regional capital.

Ukraine responds with attacks on the Belgorod region

According to Sinegúbov, the missiles were launched from the neighboring Russian region of Belgorod, which suffered two retaliatory air strikes earlier today.

The first of the attacks occurred around 2:40 a.m. Moscow time (23:40 GMT on Tuesday) and resulted in the downing of seven Vilkha (Aliso) missiles and four fixed-wing drones, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. statement published on Telegram.Four hours later, the Russian military command reported that anti-aircraft defenses shot down four RM-70 rockets and two other Ukrainian drones over Belgorod.

Moscow fears increase in Ukrainian attacks

Retired Colonel Mikhail Jodarionok, one of the few Russian military experts who warned from the first moment that the campaign in Ukraine would not be a walk in the park, he predicted that Ukrainian attacks on regional capitals in the border area “will probably acquire a massive character.”

“There is an important political background to this matter: the attacks on Russian cities during the electoral campaign of (Russian President) Vladimir Putin (who is seeking re-election in the elections next March) could have undesirable consequences for the country's leaders” , wrote in expert in the digital Gazeta.ru.

In addition to the Russian election campaign, two key dates in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are approaching: February 24 marks the second anniversary of the beginning of the Russian invasion and March 21 marks the tenth anniversary of Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

All these circumstances predict an intensification of war actions on both sides, although since the end of December Russia has increased its air attacks against Ukraine, with its military industry as a priority objective.

Ukrainian military command asks to evacuate civilians

More than symptomatic, in that sense, has been the call for the evacuation of the inhabitants of towns near the border with Russia in the north of the country made today by the commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Army, Lieutenant General Sergei Naiev, on his Facebook page.

“The border in the north of our country is the line of contact with the enemy with all the hostilities that this implies. Combat can cause the death of both civilians and soldiers, their capture and the destruction of entire border towns and cities” , he stated when advocating for the evacuation of civilians.

Naiev stressed that local military administrations are responsible for the evacuation of the population from high-risk areas.

The lieutenant general added that this measure is necessary so that the Army can fully use its fire potential against the enemy without fear of causing harm to Ukrainian citizens.

EFE