Explainer | Russia fired dozens of missiles at Ukraine, but at what cost?
- Russia launched at least 70 missiles throughout Ukraine on Monday – strikes Western analysts say came at a staggering cost
- Ukraine’s president has called for wealthy Western nations to provide Kyiv with air defences against further attacks
The strikes – denounced in the West for deliberately hitting civilian targets – have been hailed by hawks in Moscow as a turning point that demonstrates Russia’s resolve in what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
But Western military analysts say the strikes came at a staggering cost, depleted a dwindling supply of long-range missiles, hit no major military targets and are unlikely to change the course of a war going badly for Moscow.
“Russia lacks the missiles to mount attacks of this sort often, as it is running out of stocks and the Ukrainians are claiming a high success rate in intercepting many of those already used,” wrote Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London.
“This is not therefore a new war-winning strategy but a sociopath’s tantrum.”
How are the attacks portrayed in Russia?
President Vladimir Putin described the strikes as a response to what he called terrorist attacks by Ukraine, including a blast on Sunday that damaged Russia’s bridge to Crimea, which it built after annexing the peninsula it seized in 2014.