Mith his morning air strikes on Ukraine, Putin is pursuing two goals. He said one thing himself: He is taking revenge on the Crimean Bridge explosions, for which he blames Kyiv. The destruction of important infrastructure in Ukrainian cities is intended to act as a deterrent and to remind the attacked neighboring country that Moscow has a wide range of escalation options even without the use of nuclear weapons.
Whether it is true that Putin had the attacks planned before the incident in Crimea, as the Ukrainians say, cannot be judged from afar. But it would be quite possible, because on the fronts in the east and south he is having a harder time with relief.
Signal to the home scenery
The other goal is a political signal in the home crowd. After seven months of a war that is far from going according to plan, Putin is under increasing pressure from the nationalist camp he has nurtured and led for years. The fact that people like the unscrupulous Chechen leader Kadyrov applauded him on Monday describes the expectations that these people believe Putin must meet if he wants to stay in power permanently. For this reason too, it is not to be expected that he will give up or give up in the foreseeable future.
The West has rightly reacted with outrage. The shelling in the morning rush hour is as unscrupulous as the Russian raid itself and the many crimes committed by Putin and his invading army. The fact that Russia violated Moldova’s airspace is only a footnote, but it is indicative of the extensive lawlessness that now determines the Kremlin’s actions.
In Germany, the traffic light coalition is repeatedly criticized, even from within its own ranks, for allegedly not delivering the right weapons to Ukraine. The air defense system that Scholz had already promised in the summer is now just in time.
