photo by Maksym Kozytskyi on Telegram
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The Russians have stopped planning military actions on specific historical dates, now they’re shelling the entire territory of Ukraine close to the EU border. The occupiers are very sensitive to Ukraine’s success in the international arena, so they cannot restrain themselves, and thus become predictable. For example, on the night of May 17, there were «missile strikes of despair» in the Lviv region. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Hanna Malyar.
As told by Oleksii Melnyk, co-director of foreign policy and international security programs at the Razumkov analytical Centre in Kyiv, Russians are behaving like terrorists, trying to terrorize Ukraine and its society. Strikes are usually inflicted in the dark and this indicates their tactic – not to let anyone relax.
«This is not the first blow to the Yavoriv district. If you listen to all the Russian lies they report at their briefings, they are constantly talking about strikes at military sites. If someone sat down and counted everything, they would understand that not a third of those objects exist in Ukraine. Of course, any enemy strike causes significant damage and there are often casualties, but Russian strikes are intended to constantly terrorize,» – he said.
Read also: What if Putin officially declares war? Interview with the Razumkov centre expert
According to the expert, in order to destroy the Yavoriv landfill or large infrastructure, it’s necessary to strike a massive blow, while the Russians are likely to have a terrorist approach.
«The fact that these strikes on the Lviv region occurred several times close to the border indicates two things: the first is the destruction of a military facility, regardless of how close it is to the border, and the second is that the strikes on the West should destabilize relatively safe part of Ukraine and provoke another flow and additional wave of refugees across the western border. That is why their blows are signals for Europe and Poland,» – says Oleksii Melnyk.
Read also: On May 17, a missile hit near the Polish border damaged the railway infrastructure
The goal of the Russians is to make people who came from combat zones – East, South or Centre – emigrate even more after the strikes, rather than staying in the West or returning.
According to the military expert, such tactics will continue, at least in the near future.
«Now, Russia has learned some lessons, there are quite significant changes in the tactics of hostilities in the South and East, but as for the general tactics, there are no changes now – there are periodic strikes and individual targets throughout Ukraine. The only thing that has changed is their nature: first, there were strikes on storage facilities, transport infrastructures, attempts to complicate logistics. Not only in terms of military aspects but also in general, which relates to supporting the economy,» – he said.
We will recall that yesterday night, the air alarm in the area was declared twice – at 00.25 and 03.32. During the first alarm, around 00.50, several explosions were heard. Air defence units shot down three cruise missiles. At the same time, the enemy fired a missile at the infrastructure facility of the Lviv Railway regional branch in the Yavoriv district. According to Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi, the missile strike took place in a 20-kilometre zone to the border with the European Union. The night attack was one of the largest in the Lviv region in terms of the number of missiles.
In the Novoyavorivsk community, the wreckage of the rocket damaged a school, a kindergarten and an outpatient clinic. Shortly before that, the occupiers attacked the Yavoriv military object twice.
Olha Shveda, translated by Vitalii Holich
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