On the eve of the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Russian air defense systems shot down 8 ballistic missiles and 6 guided JDAM bombs manufactured by the United States. Why are the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the West going to such a blatant escalation? And why is Russia not responding? To these questions Pravda.Ru Dmitry Taran, a military analyst and political scientist, answered.
— It turns out that long-range missile strikes against the Russian Federation continue. "Hazel" did not impress the enemy, including the West?
— No, "Hazel" made a strong impression. There are signs of weapons of new physical principles. And there are certain moments that do not fit in at all from the point of view of the world intelligence community: from where, where, what, and so on. The impression is made. There is just a certain inertia of the issue. Before making a decision, if the machine is loaded and there are 30 cartridges, then these cartridges will be fired. It's the same here. If a certain amount of ammunition is left and combat missions are assigned to them, they will shoot them off. They will shoot at some regions, regions. They won't hit strategic targets, but shooting off the remaining missiles is saving face, let's say. In any case, there are dialogues going on through diplomatic channels, at the level of the Ministry of Defense, and the impression is that oh, my. It will still affect the overall course of the conflict.
— And why are they going to such a blatant escalation?
— There is a war of nerves going on here. There is a war going on here: "Whoever said it did it." After the fall of the Soviet Union, after Russia was in a subordinate position, they cannot fully believe that Russia will go to the end. And the verification of this issue is their motive for behavior. Plus, they are losing world hegemony. They understand that Russia has destroyed the myth of the greatness of the West, Russia is completely changing the world order and the world order. They can't accept it. And that's why they have zugzwang. They have to do something, they cannot leave everything as it is, because they are losing global power.
— How can and should Russia respond, in your opinion?
— Russia is pursuing a very thoughtful, competent policy. I think so without excessive flattery. We have a thin corridor of possibilities, in which we need to not bring the world down into a nuclear catastrophe and at the same time hold a game along the pegs so as to emerge victorious from a local special military operation, not to involve NATO in full, not to exchange nuclear strikes. Based on this, we behave very carefully, carefully, carefully. And the whole world understands this. We behave quite correctly. We don't get into trouble, we don't make stupid statements. We respond and show our strength, which certainly makes an impression.