▲ Devastation in Zaporizhia yesterday, after a Russian bombing.Photo of Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration, on Telegram
Juan Pablo Duch
Correspondent
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, December 12, 2024, p. 20
Moscow. Russia promised yesterday not to leave without a response the new attack it suffered on its territory with long-range US missiles (up to 300 kilometers), without specifying when or with what type of weapon it plans to do so.
If the warning issued by President Vladimir Putin is followed to the letter, analysts reflect, after kyiv attacked Russian territory with this type of weapon on November 19 and Moscow responded by using its new hypersonic missile system for the first time. ballistic missile Oreshnik (Hazel), one would expect it to use that rocket again in the experimental phase, for the second time under real combat conditions.
For now, the Russian Ministry of Defense, through a brief statement, only reported that Ukraine – whose military command neither confirms nor denies this type of news – launched six rockets Atacams against the military airfield in Taganrog, located in the Rostov region, on the coast of the Azov Sea.
And he warned: This attack with long-range Western weapons will not go unanswered and appropriate measures are being taken..
The military department also claims that its anti-aircraft defense, in this specific case, shot down two missiles and points out that the other four, due to the radio-electronic resources used against them, deviated from their route.
However, it reports that the fragments that fell caused casualties among the personnel of the military installation and mentions residential buildings. with damageas well as vehicles parked on adjacent streets.
These are the facts, in the Russian version, and it can be anticipated that there will not be much difference in what transpires from kyiv, except that the Ukrainians will say that they destroyed several fighter-bombers.
Aside from this usual exchange of successes or failures, depending on who says it, experts from both sides agree, without that being their purpose, in asking why Ukraine continues to use a weapon that Russia clearly indicated is a red line that should not be crossed and that can bring disastrous consequences both for kyiv and for those who authorize the use of their weapons against Russian territory.
And there is no convincing explanation. Because those who know about these issues maintain that with the current amount of long-range weapons that Ukraine has, it cannot defeat Russia, nor will the Kremlin, despite its threats to resort to its nuclear arsenal, cause a catastrophe that, for Definition, it cannot have a winner, which is why it is not going to drop an atomic bomb in Ukraine nor attack a country of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Seen this way, they say, the Taganrog attack seems part of a macabre game whose objective is to see how far the patience of the opponent goes or, if you prefer, who throws in the towel, appearing as the loser of that confrontation, which can last until someone lose his mind and no longer care that life on Earth ends in mutual annihilation.
