Drone Mind

The original article is linked here.

Ukraine recently launched one of its broadest attacks in the war. They hit Russian air bases from eastern Siberia to the western border of Russia. Ukrainian drones attacked airfields in five regions, including Murmansk, near the border with Norway, and Irkutsk, in eastern Siberia. The attack in Irkutsk, on the Belaya airbase, was the first time any place in Siberia had come under attack by Ukrainian drones. 

An official in Ukraine’s security services said that dozens of aircraft had been damaged in strikes, which totalled to about $7 billion in damages. The official also said that Ukrainian officers had secretly transported drones into Russian territory on trucks and launched them from those vehicles. Also, it is possible but unconfirmed that the drones used in the Murmansk and Irkutsk attacks had been launched from the immediate vicinity of the airfields.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said on social media that planning for the operation had begun a year and a half ago, and the soldiers involved had already been withdrawn from Russia. He said the attack’s results were”absolutely brilliant” and added, “Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so.”A video of the attack showed two drones being launched from containers mounted on the back of a semi truck, less than 4 miles from the Belaya air base. Both fly towards large smoke plumes rising from the base. Footage recorded shortly afterward shows the same containers ablaze.

The Russians, though, have been quick to retaliate. Ukraine’s military said that a Russian missile attack on a training base killed at least 12 soldiers and wounded more than 60. Hours before the strike, Russia launched what Ukrainian officials said was the largest combined overnight air assault on the country since the start of the war. Russia launched 472 drones and seven missiles overnight. The majority of the drones and three of the incoming missiles were intercepted, but at least 18 targets were struck.

The fighting between these adversaries has only escalated since they announced another round of cease-fire negotiations on Monday in Istanbul, suggested by Moscow. While Kyiv had insisted on a promised memorandum outlining Russia’s Seafire terms before sending any officials to the talks, Zelensky announced Sunday that Kyiv would send a delegation. He did not say whether Ukraine had received the memorandum. In a post on social media, Mr. Zelensky said only that he had met with senior leadership and “defined our positions” ahead of the talks on Monday in Istanbul.

I think that neither side is going to back down during or after the peace talks. They will keep striking each other until eventually Russia is going to have to turn to nuclear weapons. After that, the Western world could either see that as a threat and attack Russia, or ignore it in fear of World War III.