The spiral of violence continues. For the past few days, Russia has carried out daily bombings in Kiev that have killed people, including a child. There are also repeated reports of attacks in the Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine. Russian media reported on Thursday (June 1) about the shooting down of a drone in Kaluga one day after an attack in Moscow attracted international attention.
For almost a year, drone strikes have been registered, primarily against military installations and energy infrastructure, not only in the Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia, such as Crimea, but also on Russian territory itself. One of the first targets in June 2022 was a refinery in the Rostov region.
Attacks in regions further away from the border are rarer. In December, the Engels military airfield in Saratov was attacked twice.
Ukraine generally takes no responsibility for these attacks. At the same time, Russia bombards the entire Ukrainian territory much more often, using not only drones, but also missiles of various types. The damage and casualties are disproportionate.
In recent months, drone strikes and bombings in regions outside the combat zone have become more frequent on both sides.
What is behind the Moscow attack?
Analysts disagree on the causes that led to this expansion. The Austrian Russia expert Gerhard Mangott points to a connection between the drone attack in Moscow, the bombing of Russian border areas and the activity of “partisans” as he calls fighters of paramilitary groups in Russia’s Freedom Legion and the corps of Russian volunteers. allegedly composed of Russian citizens acting on the side of Ukraine.
“It is obvious that the Ukrainian side wants to bring the horrors of war to Russia. She wants to make it clear to the population that the state is not able to protect them either in the border region or in Moscow,” says Mangot. In his opinion, this contradicts the Kremlin’s attempt “to give Russian society the impression that there is no war, as if everything is normal”.
Russia reported a drone attack on the Kremlin in early May
The German military specialist Gustav Gressel from the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank has a different assessment and believes that the attacks in Moscow must be distinguished from the events in Belgorod. According to him, the attacks in Moscow are “instruments of psychological warfare”. “The story of Belgorod and the border attacks, on the other hand, are related to the counteroffensive.”
According to Gressel, Ukraine wants to oblige Russia to protect the border militarily, and for this Moscow would have to withdraw troops from Ukrainian territory. Experts will only be able to measure the degree of effectiveness of this strategy of the Ukrainian armed forces in the counteroffensive in a few weeks.
Western reaction to the attacks in Moscow
The West reacted cautiously to recent events. When asked by DW, a German government spokesman said on Wednesday that international law allows Ukraine to attack Russian territory in selfdefense, but added that Berlin is opposed to the use of Germansupplied weapons in this situation.
The US, Kiev’s main arms supplier, reacted similarly. White House spokesman John Kirby said no US weapons were used in the attack on Moscow and stressed that the US “does not support attacks inside Russia”.
However, representatives of the Russian Volunteer Corps have already used American armored vehicles in an incursion into Russian territory. Gressel hopes something like this won’t happen again because “it could anger alarmists about the escalation in Washington. The White House in particular is overly cautious, Kiev should be more careful.”
Overall, however, he is convinced that “Kiev has the right to attack targets in Russia” because “nobody asked Putin to start this war”. The expert adds that the Russian President must now face the consequences of his actions.
F16 fighters to intimidate?
In connection with the expansion of attacks on Russian territory, Oleg Ignatov of the International Crises Group estimates that Ukraine is trying to “increase the price of war for Russia”. According to the expert, the United States has great influence in Ukraine, but not in all areas. Ignatov believes that Washington can persuade Kiev not to use American weapons such as the Himars missile system in attacks on Russian territory, but nothing more.
Kiev’s desire to receive more weapons from the West should act as a deterrent. At the recent G7 summit in Japan, US President Joe Biden said his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy had pledged not to use Ukraine’s longdemanded F16 fighter jets to attack Russia. So far, the West has only decided to train Ukrainian pilots, but has not yet released the jets.
A year of war in Ukraine: a timeline in pictures
On the morning of February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. In a year of fighting, thousands of soldiers and civilians lost their lives. Recall the most striking facts in this timeline.
Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images
A dark day for millions
On the morning of February 24, 2022, Ukrainians were awakened by explosions like this one in the capital, Kiev. Russia had launched a fullscale invasion in what was the largest attack by one country against another since World War II. Ukraine immediately declared martial law. Attacks on civilian structures ensued and deaths were soon reported.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine/Zuma/imago images
Russian President Vladimir Putin still insists today that it was a “special military operation” and that the goal was to capture the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine. For weeks, residents of Mariupol took refuge in basements. Many died under the rubble. A Russian airstrike in March on a theater in the city, where hundreds had taken refuge, drew condemnation from human rights groups.
Photo: Nikolai Trishin/TASS/dpa/picture Alliance
The war in Ukraine forced an emigration not seen in Europe since World War II. According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, more than 8 million people have fled the country. Poland alone hosted 1.5 million people, more than any other EU country. Millions of people, mainly from eastern and southern Ukraine, had to flee.
Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP
After a few weeks, the Ukrainian army succeeded in driving the Russian forces out of areas in the north and northeast of the country. Russia’s plan to besiege Kiev failed. After the liberation of the regions, the scale of the atrocities became clear. Images of tortured and murdered civilians in Bucha near Kiev went around the world. Authorities reported 461 deaths.
Photo: Carol Guzy/ZUMA PRESS/dpa/Picture Alliance
Devastation and death in Kramatorsk
The number of civilian casualties in Donbass has risen rapidly. Authorities urged civilians to retreat to safer areas, but Russian missiles also hit people attempting to escape, including in Kramatorsk. In April, more than 61 people were killed and 120 injured at the city’s train station as thousands waited to flee to safety.
Photo Credit: Seth Sidney Berry/ZUMA Press Wire/Picture Alliance
Search for security forces underground
During the Russian airstrikes, millions of Ukrainians sought some form of protection. Cellars became second homes for members of the front who were within artillery range. Residents of large cities also sought protection from the rockets. In Kiev (pictured) and Kharkiv, metro stations are safe places.
Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
High nuclear risk in Zaporizhia
In the first weeks after the invasion, Russia occupied a large area of southern and eastern Ukraine, including the area around Kiev. Fighting spilled over into facilities at the Zaporizhia nuclear complex in the southeast, which has since been under Russian control. The International Atomic Energy Agency sent experts to the plant and demanded a safe zone around the plant.
Photo: ST/AFP/Getty Images
Desperate resistance in Mariupol
The Russian army besieged Mariupol for three months, preventing the movement of ammunition and other supplies. The Asovstal steelworks complex was the last Ukrainian stronghold in the city and housed thousands of soldiers and civilians. After a prolonged attack, thousands of Russian soldiers took control of the plant in May 2022 and captured over 2,000 people.
Photo: Dmytro “Orest” Kozatskyi/AFP
A symbol of resistance
On the first day of the war, Russia captured Snake Island in the Black Sea. A dialogue between Ukrainian and Russian military officials, in which the Ukrainians refused to surrender, went viral. In April, the Ukrainians claimed to have sunk the Russian warship Moskva, one of two ships involved in the attack on the island. In June, Ukraine said it had driven the Russians off the island.
Photo: Border Guard Service of Ukraine/AFP
Death toll uncertain
The exact number of war dead remains uncertain. According to the United Nations, at least 7,200 civilians were killed and another 12,000 injured — but the real number could be much higher. The exact number of fallen Ukrainian soldiers is also uncertain. In December, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak put the number at up to 13,000. Unbiased statistics are not available.
Photo: Raphael Lafargue/Abaca/Picture Alliance
Turning point for Ukraine
Western arms shipments to Ukraine have been a hot topic since the war began, but are slow to reach Kiev. The USmade Himars rocket launchers were a crucial aid. They enabled the Ukrainian military to cut off ammunition supplies to Russian artillery and also likely contributed to Ukraine’s successful counteroffensives.
Photo Credit: James Lefty Larimer/US Army/Zuma Wire/IMAGO
Relief with every release
In early September, the Ukrainian military launched a successful counteroffensive in Kharkiv, in the northeast of the country. The surprised Russians quickly retreated, leaving behind equipment, ammunition and even evidence of alleged war crimes. The Ukrainian military also managed to liberate Kherson in the south, and its residents celebrated the arrival of Ukrainian soldiers.
Photo: Bülent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images
Explosion on the Crimean Bridge
In early October, a massive explosion occurred on the bridge that Russia had built across the Kerch Strait, connecting Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow has occupied since 2014. The bridge was partially destroyed. According to Russia, a truck loaded with explosives from Ukraine was responsible for the damage, but the authorities in Kiev have not claimed responsibility for the attack.
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
Massive attacks on energy infrastructure
Just days after the Crimean bridge blew up, Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Power outages occurred from Lviv to Kharkiv. Since then, these attacks have become routine. Due to massive damage to power plants and other civilian infrastructure, people in Ukraine face power cuts and water shortages almost every day.
Photo: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images
Daily video messages from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in which he reports on the situation in the country and the ongoing war, are viewed by millions of people. Zelenskyy managed not only to unite the people of his country, but also to win the support of the West. Under his leadership, European integration has made great strides and Ukraine is on the road to EU membership.
Photo: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP
Waiting for Leopard 2 tanks
Ukraine’s defense depends heavily on foreign aid. A USled group of countries offered a billiondollar package in humanitarian, financial and military assistance. The use of heavy artillery was hotly debated in the West, largely due to concerns about Russia’s response. But Ukraine will eventually receive Western tanks, mostly Germanmade Leopard 2s.
Photo: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images
Bloody fighting has been raging in Bakhmut in the Donetsk region for months. Since Ukrainian troops lost control of the village of Soledar in early 2023, defending the place has become even more difficult. In January, the German secret service reported threedigit daily losses on the Ukrainian side. But the death toll in Russia is likely to be even higher.
Photo: LIBKOS/AP/dpa/picture Alliance