Russian attack | The attacks on Kiev can be interpreted as Putin’s desperation, says the researcher

Russian the missiles hit the center of Kyiv in the middle of morning activities, when people were on their way to work and children to school.

“Right now I’m in the basement of the school with my children, and we keep hearing explosions,” says the person from Kyiv Give it while answering HS’s call a little after ten in the morning.

The air traffic alert came in Kyiv at 6:47 a.m., when Anna and the children were already on their way to school. The school was the closest shelter.

The teachers brought about 30 children between the ages of 7 and 14 to the bomb shelter built in the basement of the elementary school.

Some of the children and parents have already escaped from the basement to their homes. It’s not so easy for Anna, because there’s a long way to go home and you can’t get close by subway.

“We’ve experienced this before, but now I’m quite scared,” says Anna. “I haven’t reached all my relatives.”

As a surprise retaliatory strikes did not come to the people of Kyiv.

“There are air strikes all the time, and Russia retaliates every time the Ukrainian armed forces succeed. That always happens. But the scale of the strikes is now large, very heavy bombing. Kyiv hasn’t been attacked since June or July, and there hasn’t been such a big attack since March.”

Give it plans to stay with the children in the school basement until the end of the air raid alert is announced. There is food and water in the basement.

“We could easily be here for at least a couple of days. Hardly a week, but hopefully it won’t take that long.”

There is an embassy near the school, so Anna considers it a relatively safe place, because Russia tries to avoid hitting embassies. During the call, there were still about 15 children in the basement.

Russian missiles have hit several civilian targets in central Kyiv, including a light traffic bridge and a popular park near Shevchenko State University.

In parts of Kyiv, the attacks have cut off electricity. Missiles have been fired at different parts of Kyiv.

In the morning, people hid in the public shelters of metro stations.

Many restaurants have not opened their doors. There are hardly any cars on the streets, but everywhere you can hear the sirens of ambulances and fire engines.

“Yesterday we celebrated the destruction of the Kerch Strait bridge. There is a saying in Ukraine that you cry for long joy,” said the person from Kyiv Yelyzaveta to HS on the phone.

He estimated that the attacks would have been the worst since the start of the war.

More detailed information about the casualties and damage caused by the attacks was still awaited in the morning.

Russian the attacks on Kiev and several cities in western Ukraine can be interpreted by the president Vladimir Putin to the despair of the administration, says the docent of military sciences Ilmari Käihkö. He is currently working as a visiting researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki.

“Retaliatory strikes may be a response to the Russian military opposition that has expressed criticism. At the same time, they can appear desperate: when they can’t hit military targets, they attack civilians,” says Käihkö.

Käihkö says that there is nothing new in strategic attacks on civilian targets in Kyiv and other cities. Russia has been terrorizing civilians throughout the war, most recently last week carrying out several attacks on the city of Zaporizhia.

“Terror has so far turned against Russia both internationally and nationally in Ukraine. Internationally, Ukraine has received even heavier weaponry from Western countries. Nationally, the attacks against civilians have only increased Ukrainians’ will to fight,” says Käihkö.

He estimates that the deterrent effects of the attacks on civilians could be beneficial for Russia if Russia could keep the front lines intact, but in recent weeks Russia has been forced to retreat due to Ukraine’s counterattack in both eastern and southern Ukraine.

“When there is no better strategy, you have to resort to terror.”

Cuckold says that according to Russian claims, Russia would have hit the base of the Ukrainian security service SBU in recent attacks. Ukraine has not confirmed such information, and Käihkö does not believe that it would confirm it, even if the information is true.

“Russia’s claim may be completely baseless. Of course, it does not want to talk about having carried out attacks against civilians, but claims that the attack had a militarily significant purpose. On the other hand, Ukraine specifically wants to highlight the attacks on civilians and not highlight if its military bases have experienced damage.”

For now, it is unclear with what means Russia has carried out today’s attacks on Ukrainian cities. Käihkö says that Russia is short on accurate missile systems, so it has had to use even imprecise missiles, such as the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, which are not designed for land targets.

“The question arises as to whether it is a problem for Russia that the missiles’ hit accuracy is poor. It’s pretty terrible to think that Russia doesn’t care what they hit with their missiles.”

According to estimates, however, the range of the S-300 missiles is not sufficient for attacks on Kiev, says Käihkö. Russia has Kalibr cruise missiles intended for land use, with an estimated range of more than 1,500 kilometers. It is possible that they have been used in attacks.

About revenge attacks when speaking, Käihkö also brings up the fact that it took Putin’s administration about a day and a half before they declared Ukraine guilty of the Kerch Strait bridge explosions. Russia has not directly blamed Ukraine for the previous attacks in Crimea, says Käihkö.

“Now the only options are to blame Ukraine or NATO. At this point, Russia chose to blame Ukraine, and that meant that Russia would be required to take tough retaliatory measures against Ukraine.”

In addition to the attacks seen now, according to Käihkö, we can expect, for example, more destruction of Ukrainian civil infrastructure and attacks against Ukrainian decision-makers. President to Volodymyr Zelensky and in addition to other top decision-makers, according to his assessment, Russia could target, for example, regional mayors, who have been widely featured in the media during the war.