Russia appears to be 'just chilling' in Ukraine now

Russia should take drone attacks on its territory a lot more seriously. Resting on the laurels of a nuclear power is unacceptable for Russia.

Ukraine starts launching strike UAVs deep inside Russia

Most recent drone attacks on the Republic of Adygeya, the resort city of Tuapse, in Belgorod, Bryansk and Moscow regions come as a move to test unmanned systems (UAVs) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a wide front, authors of Rybar Telegram channel believe.

It appears that the drone attack on Belarus (they refute those reports) the day before was part of the same series of training sessions. The attack on the airport in Machulishchi allegedly followed the same pattern as in the case of attacks on the Russian strategic aviation airfield in Engels.

In Tuapse, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot at night. It was said that they failed to hit the target. The boiler room was slightly damaged, a fire broke out in the outbuilding, but it was extinguished in less than an hour. No one was hurt.

In Adygea, "an unidentified drone" crashed as well, the head of the republic Murat Kumpilov said in his Telegram channel. An outbuilding was also "slightly damaged," no casualties were reported. Three UAVs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were shot down over Belgorod.

NATO plans for Russia

Some experts take such attacks condescendingly. However, Russia should never, under no circumstances, rest on the laurels of a nuclear power. The Kyiv regime will continue to organise an offensive, a counter-offensive, it will continue bombing Russian territories and committing acts of sabotage, etc. This is the point of its existence as per instructions from Western patrons.

A brief analysis of different statements from recent news stories indicates that NATO plans to build up forces:

• in Poland — with potential strikes against Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad enclave with a view to subsequently reach St. Petersburg;
• in Romania — with a potential strike on Transnistria;
• in Ukraine — to attack Melitopol, move further to the Sea of Azov before turning to Crimea and the Donbass.

They will probably start as soon as spring comes and roads dry up in Ukraine. Forces from Poland and Romania will join in later — NATO will have a 400,000-strong army there in spring.

All in all, Ukraine is getting ready for something, despite its losses in Bakhmut. It is also possible that Ukraine has already received heavy NATO weapons — they may have arrived after such intentions were announced.

What does the Russian Defence Ministry think?

Instead of at least cutting the Armed Forces from fuel supplies by destroying supply routes through Romania from Bulgaria (which is exempt from all sanctions on Russian oil, where Lukoil has a refinery in Burgas), Russia concluded an agreement with Kazakhstan on oil supplies to Germany. This oil in the form of fuel will be subsequently supplied to Ukraine to power Leopard and Abrams tanks. However, it appears that the Russian leadership is preoccupied with oil profits.

An unexpected initiative is extremely important now in order to stop or weaken the offensive actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Attacks on bridges, railways, ports in the Odessa region appear to be absolutely necessary at this particular time, let alone the need to cancel the grain deal. Russia should cut Kyiv off from Black Sea ports and block the supplies of fuel, lubricants and arsenals there.