Ukraine Waging a New Kind of War Against Russia
Buzzing drones, hacks, cross-border assaults, and more buzzing drones, Russians are starting to get harried
Drones are flying as far as St. Petersburg. One drone, it is said, actually managed to pass over Putin’s lair in the forest, and others are reaching their targets and blowing up oil refineries, a plastics factory that makes protective gear for soldiers, and most recently, a factory that manufactures gun powder.
The “rear” is being more effectively and aggressively targeted now than at any other time in the past two years. Russian news agencies report every day of new fires engulfing massive buildings. On the outskirts of St. Petersburg, one of the biggest logistics hubs for the e-commerce behemoth “Wildberries,” a mini-Amazon in Russia, was engulfed in flames, taking over a hundred million dollars’ worth of consumer goods.
It is unknown if Ukraine had anything to do with the Wildberries fire, but it does not matter. The billowing smoke that led to the city’s flight cancellations added to the sense that “the world is ablaze.” It’s like a rebellious thread on a sweater — “Don’t pull that!” — has been yanked only to reveal that mom was right — “I told you not to pull it” — Putin’s intricately woven lie that “all is hunky-dory” has been shattered: neither are things hunky nor dory at all.
“Four oil reservoirs are burning at an oil depot in Klintsy, Bryansk region of Russia that was attacked by a drone last night, Russian media report. Residents of nearby homes have been evacuated. The fire has been assigned an increased level of complexity.”
In another attack, a Ukrainian drone struck the Tambov gunpowder factory in the city of Kotovsk. According to Kyiv Post, the Tambov factory, one of the largest producers of gunpowder for small arms and artillery ammunition in Russia, increased its production by 34 percent since the beginning of the Ukraine war (Ukrainian Drones Destroy Gunpowder Factory).
In the big, war-making picture of things, the accumulative effect of these fires and explosions is small, but to say it is insignificant would be inaccurate. Since Russia has been refocusing much of its manufacturing base onto a wartime footing, the number of factories that have become legitimate targets for Ukraine has grown significantly.
Two years ago, much of what is being blown up today would have had no effect on the supply chain for Russia’s soldiers because they were not part of the military-industrial complex. The demand for even the most basic gear for the soldiers, not to mention munitions, missiles, and tanks, has increased so much that it is proving very difficult for Russia to provide security for the expanded supply chain.
For centuries, Russia has been a society that struggles with logistics. Add to that the simple fact that Russia is the largest country in the world and then spread out onto this massive landmass with hundreds of new military plants. It quickly becomes a situation that where it is almost impossible to protect these new factories from the low-flying tireless drones. In addition to this expanded military-industrial base, we are seeing that more and more of the new facilities are ending up in communities surrounded by ordinary Russians.
What does this mean for them? More sleepless nights, more disruptions, more fires, more evidence that Russia is getting its ass kicked in Ukraine, more proof that they are being lied to by their dear leader. Of course, this does not necessarily put Putin in danger. Russians are so collectively weak that they always need a strong leader. Putin has already been given a pass on the sacrifices the country has been forced to make since his decision to invade two years ago.
If, however, discontent continues to rise and more Russians begin to feel the kind of stress and loss that the residents of Belgorod are, then Putin will have to do one of two things — and maybe both: He will have to throw his Defense Minister under the bus, and he might have to begin serious peace talks.
This photo was taken earlier today.
A fire broke out at the terminal belonging to Novatek , Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, regional officials said on Sunday, amid reports of explosions and Ukrainian drone sightings in the area. “According to preliminary information.
”According to preliminary information, the fire was the result of external influence,” the company said in a statement, giving no further details (Novatek Suspends Operations).
Let’s hope the “external influence” continues, yeah?
Yeah.