Ukraine's bold drone strike weakens Russian nuclear triad
Kiev hit one of the components of Russia's nuclear triad on Sunday, which is likely to prompt a retaliatory response, noted Marcin Ogdowski, a journalist for "Polska Zbrojna," writer, and war correspondent, in a conversation with PAP.
On Sunday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that in an operation by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) utilising 117 drones, 34 percent of Russian strategic bombers were destroyed or damaged.
The Ukrainian army targeted a component of the Russian nuclear triad. Following this attack, Russia still retains its deterrence capability, but it no longer has the same sense of security as it did a few days ago, observed the journalist of "Polska Zbrojna."
According to Ogdowski, the Kremlin will seek a military response to the Ukrainians' actions on Sunday. "It's too severe a blow to ignore without a reaction." Putin needs to demonstrate to his own people and the global public that he is taking action after such a bold strike on a nuclear superpower, the expert said.
As the writer noted, the Ukrainians exhibited some restraint in Sunday’s attack on Russian aviation. They did not destroy, for example, any Tu-160 aircraft; instead, they targeted specific types of machines, notably Tu-95 and Tu-22M bombers, which are typically used in raids on Ukraine, Ogdowski said.
According to him, this was deliberate: the aim was to inflict significant losses on the Russians, but not so severe as to push them towards "extreme measures" in response.
The expert also mentioned information recently published by Western media about a base near the town of Yasny in the Orenburg region close to the border with Kazakhstan. As he noted, the leaked data exposes the Russian base to potential attack.
He emphasised that the base in Yasny is crucial from a Russian defence perspective; intercontinental missiles are launched from there, and the latest Russian nuclear warhead carriers are also stored there.
- Currently, nuclear weapons are the only military asset that maintains Russia's status as a superpower - noted Ogdowski.
"Ukrainian special services are very active"
As the journalist added, there appears to be a breach in Russian counterintelligence due to the leakage of a large amount of classified information. This breach is particularly significant because it involves a country that possesses very extensive special services, previously renowned for their exceptional effectiveness, said Ogdowski.
- Sunday's attack proves that Ukrainian special services operate very actively in Russia and can tackle the most challenging tasks. This includes planning and executing an effective strike on a strategically significant facility, assessed the expert.
- In light of this, I wouldn't be surprised if Kiev had very detailed information about the security measures of other key Russian nuclear facilities, added the PAP interlocutor.
