Russian ballistic missile attacks have begun to cause record civilian deaths in Ukrainian cities without any Patriot interceptors to stop them, but Ukraine’s long-range strikes have destroyed Russian fuel supplies.
With the Russian economy struggling, a top expert warned that social unrest could unfold in a matter of time – and consequently lost his job.
Recommended Stories
list of ۴ itemsend of list
On Tuesday, Russian missiles killed at least ۱۰ people in Pechenihy, a town ۴۰km (۲۵ miles) east of Ukraine’s northern city of Kharkiv. On Thursday, they killed ۱۵ people in Kyiv, three in the western city of Zhytomyr and injured ۴۰ at a border crossing between Odesa and Moldova.
Russia said it was targeting weapons manufacturing sites in Kyiv, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces struck ۳۰ residential buildings, a school and a children’s hospital.
The United Nations said Russia killed a record ۴۳۷ people in July and injured ۲,۶۱۰, surpassing its previous record in June by ۳۰ percent.
Civilian casualties have continued in August, because Ukraine has run out of Patriot interceptors and has been unable to stop incoming ballistic missile attacks since the beginning of the month.
As Zelenskyy pointed out, Ukraine’s interception rate of cruise missiles and drones is still in the ۹۰-percent range. But Russia is doubling down on the use of ballistic missiles and has brought in an additional ۵۰ North Korean weapons, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.
Ukraine strikes back
Since June ۲۵, Ukraine has launched a campaign of mid-range strikes to disrupt Russian logistics and has harassed fuel and ammunition supplies so effectively that it has made ۲۳۳sq km (۹۰ square miles) of territorial gains this year.
By August ۱۶, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces announced it had put ۲۲۸ supply ships out of action in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, as well as destroying ۲۴۳ power stations, electricity substations and gas distribution nodes in Crimea.
They have also been striking relay antennas used to guide Russian drones and radar stations that detect Ukrainian counterstrikes. On August ۲۰, Ukraine struck drone launch sites in Donetsk City and Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the Sea of Azov, as well as a fuel terminal in the Kerch Strait used to supply Crimea.
Ukraine’s long-range strikes have served a different purpose – to undermine the Russian economy’s ability to fund its war.
On August ۱۵, Ukraine managed to fly two of its Flamingo cruise missiles into the Progress Rocket and Space Centre, ۸۰۰km (۵۰۰ miles) east of Moscow, despite Russia’s use of four A-۵۰ early warning aircraft and its reported downing of ۸۲۲ Ukrainian drones that day.
Ukraine said it hit an engine assembly workshop for Soyuz rockets, causing a fire covering half a hectare.
Russia is using Soyuz to launch satellites for its Rassvet constellation to replace dependence on the US Starlink system, after Ukraine managed to cut Russian access to Starlink on February ۱ . Russia needs satellites to increase the speed and precision of its counter-battery fire on Ukrainian positions. Its loss of that capacity has been partly responsible for Ukrainian gains this year.
“One Soyuz-۲.۱b launch vehicle can put ۲۰ satellites into orbit,” said Ukrainian electronics expert Serhiy Beskrestnov. “To create a basic satellite constellation in orbit, Russia needs to carry out ۱۲-۱۵ launches.”
The following day, Ukraine set ablaze a ۲۵-hectare warehouse belonging to the Wildberries online retail chain, Russia’s equivalent of Amazon, and said it had destroyed seven out of Wildberries’ ten largest logistical hubs.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July ۲۸ that the Kremlin was monitoring the damage to Wildberries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin implied on Thursday that he might provide government funds for Wildberries to rebuild, saying “logistics and warehousing capacity certainly needs to be restored, including with government support”.
Ukraine has also succeeded in destroying Russian oil refineries and starving its economy of petrol
It has recently struck the Ust-Luga refinery, the Taneco refinery in Tatarstan and the Perm refinery, ۱,۵۰۰km (۹۳۰ miles) from its borders.
Similar strikes this year have so reduced petrol supply in Russia. The Izvestia newspaper reported that only ۲۸ percent of petrol stations across the country could supply fuel this week, citing mobile app GdeBENZ, which monitors real-time fuel availability.
Izvestia said only five petrol stations in Moscow were selling high-octane AI-۹۸ fuel. Russians posted video of Rosgvardia police units sitting outside petrol stations to avert some of the fights involving motorists in recent months.
Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak, said lower-grade fuel was being supplied to ease market tensions, and confirmed that Russia is now importing refined fuel for the domestic market.
“We expect a number of oil refineries to complete maintenance work soon and the situation to improve significantly,” Novak told Vesti journalist Pavel Zarubin, but that may be wishful thinking. Ukraine has struck Russia’s largest refineries not once but repeatedly. On Wednesday [August ۱۹ ], it struck a refining unit at Ufa, which was undergoing repairs from a previous strike. It is ۱,۳۰۰km (۸۱۰ miles) from Ukraine.
Ukraine also struck significant military targets during the week, including the Kamenyy Kombinat plant in Rostov, which makes solid rocket fuel for missiles, and the Savasleika airfield, from where MiG fighters armed with Kh-۴۷M۲ ballistic missiles take -off.
Russian economy in trouble
Some Russian economists have begun to warn of impending social and political upheaval as a result of the slowing economy.
Andrey Klepach, chief economist at Vnesheconombank, a state bank that finances the Kremlin’s national projects, warned on August ۱۸ that, “Losses from Ukrainian military strikes … are already becoming a significant macroeconomic barrier to Russian economic growth.
“I believe Russia won’t collapse, but I’m almost certain we’ll reach a social crisis.”
He was removed from his post after making the comments during a discussion at the Moscow Exchange’s Nikitsky Club.
Russians are withdrawing savings in increasing amounts, reported The Washington Post. While businesses are increasing “voluntary” donations to the state defence budget, in addition to having to pay for their own air defences, putting further strain on the economy.
At a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects this week, Putin acknowledged that Ukraine’s strikes are “certainly” causing damage, adding that “overall economic performance is modest but positive”.
That damage took financial form in the $۱.۱۸bn Putin newly released to aid regional budgets, in addition to previous financial assistance. Some $۵۲m of that was destined for Crimea.
Ukraine’s defence ministry estimated that every dollar spent on drone strikes caused five times that amount in costs to the Russian economy.
