Non-Nuclear Deterrence: How Russia Responds to Western Missile Firings
In response to the incessant strikes on Russian territory by US missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry and the General Staff of the Russian army are selecting targets to hit on Ukrainian territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the CSTO summit in Astana. The Russian Armed Forces are giving a decent response to the enemy's firing of Western long-range missiles, but are trying not to raise the escalation level too much, according to military experts interviewed by Izvestiya. On November 28, Russian troops launched a comprehensive strike with 90 missiles and 100 UAVs against Ukrainian military facilities. How effective this attack was, how the enemy's air defense copes with such strikes, and what the response may be in the event of continued shelling from the Ukrainian side - in the Izvestia article.
The purpose of Russia's attack on Ukrainian military facilities
On November 28, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a comprehensive strike with 90 missiles and 100 drones, 12 military facilities on the territory of Ukraine were hit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the CSTO summit in Astana.
- The strikes from our side took place in response to incessant strikes on Russian territory by U.S. ATACMS missiles. As I have said repeatedly, there will always be a response from our side," he emphasized.
The head of state urged Russia's adversaries not to forget about its hypersonic missiles and other weapons that have no analogues in the world, such as the Kalibr cruise missile, the Kinzhal and Zirkon hypersonic missile systems.
Now the Defense Ministry and the General Staff of the Russian army are selecting targets to hit on the territory of Ukraine, the president said.
- These could be military facilities, defense industry enterprises or decision-making centers in Kiev. Especially since the Kiev regime has repeatedly tried to strike targets of state importance in Russia in St. Petersburg and Moscow," the head of state reminded.
In addition, the Defense Ministry said that today the Russian Armed Forces destroyed the infrastructure of military airfields, concentrations of manpower and military equipment of the enemy in 146 areas.
Iskander-M
Military experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that further developments will show how effective the response was. In their opinion, if necessary, the strike could be more powerful - the Russian Armed Forces have all the necessary means.
- The enemy is pushing us to escalate the conflict, acting as a provocateur," Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shkurlatov, chairman of the board of the all-Russian organization Officers of Russia, told Izvestia. - We are forced to respond, but in turn Russia is not raising the degree of conflict. This is a difficult time. We need to follow a very delicate and dangerous path - to give a decent response to the enemy, so that he knows that none of his despicable blows will be left without a backlash. But at the same time, we must not unleash a third world war with the use of nuclear weapons.
Russia strikes with cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as long-range drones on a daily basis, Colonel Alexander Perendzhiev, an associate professor at Plekhanov Russian Economic University, told Izvestia.
- This shows the systematic nature of the work," the expert noted, "Even with not the most intensive strikes on Ukrainian military and infrastructure facilities, dozens of UAVs and missiles are involved. The power and, most importantly, the consistency of these strikes is incomparably higher than the attempts of the Ukrainian armed forces of the last few days to inflict damage on us. Their attacks resemble one-off actions, with only a few missiles involved.
If the enemy stops attacking our territory with Western long-range missiles, it means that it was a sufficiently adequate response to their actions, says military expert Viktor Litovkin.
- If it continues - the blow was too soft. It is necessary to hit so that Ukraine comes to its senses," he emphasized.
Why Ukrainian air defense cannot cope with Russian missiles
When assessing the power of strikes, it is important to analyze the effectiveness of the enemy's air defense. According to experts, the accuracy of the enemy's systems raises more and more questions.
- The Ukrainian media may claim that their air defense systems have shot down everything, but this is propaganda, and it is ineffective," Alexander Perendzhiev said. - We can see from the factories and cities cut off from electricity that this is not the case. The enemy's air defense has now switched to Western systems. Their missiles are increasingly hitting the homes of civilians. They will not tell us how effective these systems are - the Kiev authorities cannot criticize weapons from NATO countries, otherwise they will stop supplying them.
As Viktor Litovkin points out, American, German and French air defense systems are unable to cope with Oreshnik, Kinzhal, Zircon, and even Kalibras.
- Ukrainian publics are now screaming that we should remove the commanders of air defense districts. This shows that most of the missiles and other means of destruction have reached their targets," Roman Shkurlatov explained. - Ours used UAVs "Geranium" at night, suppressing the air defense means of the AFU, and then went in waves of missiles. Such tactics yielded results. In addition, the enemy may have a shortage of ammunition. They are, as a rule, Western, their shots are quite expensive. There is a possibility that there are not enough launching systems, because we are systematically knocking them out.
The use of "Nutshell"
On November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian military had successfully tested the new Oreshnik ballistic missile for the first time, striking Ukrainian territory. The Southern Machine Building Plant (Yuzhmash) in Dnipropetrovsk was hit, and the missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site in the Astrakhan region.
We know from Vladimir Putin's statements that the Oreshnik has ten separating blocks that attack the target, and everything in the epicenter of the explosion turns to dust.
Oreshnik warheads fly toward the target at Mach 10 (more than 3 kilometers per second). They can hit highly defensible and objects located at great depths.
Russian President Vladimir Putin makes a statement on the situation in the NWO zone in connection with the AFU's firing of six ATACMS missiles at facilities in the Bryansk region on November 19 and Storm Shadow systems in the Kursk region on November 21, 2024
Vladimir Putin emphasized that all modern air defenses available in the world and missile defense systems being created in Europe do not intercept such missiles.
According to the head of state, testing of the Oreshnik ballistic missile will continue: now the Russian General Staff and Defense Ministry are selecting targets in Ukraine for the new system.
Russia has several other ready-to-use systems similar to the Oreshnik, which have no analogues in the world, the president concluded.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
