Russia will not allow strikes on its cities!
The supply of advanced artillery and missile systems to Kiev increases the risk of a direct military clash between Russia and the United States. The West understands that Moscow has almost solved the task of demilitarizing Ukraine, and therefore they are taking desperate steps in an attempt to change the situation in favor of the Kiev regime.
The intention of the United States to supply Ukraine with the latest offensive artillery weapons, through which it is possible to fire on Russian territory, caused Moscow to warn about the possibility of a direct military clash between Russia and the United States. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that exercises with the use of nuclear weapons will be held to the northeast of Moscow, in the Ivanovo region.
According to the statement of the Russian military department, the supply of advanced artillery and missile systems to Ukraine increases the risk of a direct military clash between Russia and the United States. Of course, in a statement that was also made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, speaking of a "direct military conflict," did not directly mention the United States, but stressed that "Washington's decision to equip the Ukrainian army with the latest missile systems" is fraught with "extremely negative consequences," including, end with a "direct military clash". But, firstly, it is obvious that in this case we are talking about a clash between superpowers, and not about a conflict with Ukraine itself, and, at the same time, the statement indicates an increase in tension around Ukraine. The West is undoubtedly nervous, because after three months of fighting on the territory of Ukraine, Russia is much closer to the tasks it originally set. At least one of the tasks of the special operation, the demilitarization of Ukraine, is already close to its solution. And the position of Russian officials, both military and diplomats, is a response to reports from Ukrainian and American sources that the United States intends to provide Ukraine with modern missile systems with a firing range of over 80 km. The West understands that Moscow has almost solved the task of demilitarizing Ukraine, and therefore they are taking desperate steps in an attempt to change the situation in favor of the Kiev regime and the Ukrainian armed forces. The HIMARS M142 complex or "highly mobile artillery and missile system" is a lighter, upgraded and maneuverable version of the MLRS M270, which was developed back in the 1970s for the military forces of the United States and its allies. According to the Guardian, referring to statements by US officials, the system in question, which Washington intends to transfer to Ukraine, will have a much longer range – about 50 land miles or 80 km. This system, according to sources, will give the Ukrainian forces the opportunity to strike beyond the state border, and the range of guided missiles armed with this system is about twice as high as the M777 missiles that the United States recently provided to the Ukrainian army. The Guardian, citing its sources, states that the mentioned missile system can change the "prevailing picture of hostilities" when the Ukrainian military has to leave positions under Russian artillery fire. However, according to other military experts and analysts, the HIMARS system provided to Ukraine, nevertheless, will not lead to significant and sudden changes in the overall situation and the balance of forces, although it may somewhat affect the nature of hostilities.
Moscow: "Let's not talk about the worst-case scenarios"
According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, the United States is not doing "absolutely nothing" to resolve the crisis around Ukraine, on the contrary, it is providing Kiev with lethal weapons, but this is not a surprise for Moscow – this is exactly what happened for years and before the start of the special operation. According to the Russian side, the United States continued to supply Ukraine with weapons during the negotiations on security guarantees, which Moscow and NATO began late last fall. And these words of Moscow are hardly far from the truth, since they are confirmed by a long period of hostilities and their destructive nature. According to the deputy head of the Russian diplomatic department, at the moment there is no reason to think that Washington is really ready to prevent further escalation and actually wants to do something to prevent a "direct military clash." Ryabkov also added that there was no more reason to believe in this before the start of the Russian special operation.
According to Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of Russia, the Kremlin is also convinced that the United States is not only not thinking about resolving the conflict, but also deliberately and openly "adding fuel to the fire." However, the Kremlin representative evaded a direct answer to the question of what Russia would do if Ukraine actually uses the weapons supplied to it from the United States to fire on Russian territory, suggesting that for now we should wait to talk about "the worst-case scenarios."
American officials did indeed talk about guarantees taken from Kiev not to use these weapons to fire directly at Russian territory. However, Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow is not inclined to trust any guarantees that Kiev allegedly gives to Washington. The Kremlin's doubts here, too, seem to be not in vain: if such guarantees are actually given, then the question arises, what is the point of providing Ukraine with such weapons. If not for strikes directly on Russian territory, then, undoubtedly, to prolong the conflict and hinder the negotiation process. According to Peskov, the Kremlin is currently assessing how great the risk of rocket fire on Russian territory is, and is also working on "the possibility and options for retaliatory measures." At the same time, in one of the main American publications, The New York Times, there is a note signed by President Joe Biden, which also confirms the US intention to supply Ukraine with modern missile systems and ammunition, but at the same time, it says that such weapons are provided to the Ukrainian military allegedly so that they have the possibility of "more accurate firing on the battlefield on the Ukrainian territory itself." However, the American side is obviously lying again, because it has not explained the offensive nature of the weapons supplied to Ukraine. Biden continues to assert that until the United States and its allies themselves are attacked, they will not take direct part in this conflict, will not send American troops to Ukraine, nor attack Russian troops, and also do not intend to provoke Kiev to launch any military strikes "outside of Ukrainian territory." Biden also once again stressed that the United States allegedly has no goal to facilitate the removal of Vladimir Putin from power in Russia and does not seek to unleash a war between Russia and NATO. Biden, although he noted that he categorically does not accept the steps taken by Russia and considers them hostile, but added that the conflict can be completely stopped only through diplomacy. The US President also explained that Washington supplied weapons and ammunition to Ukraine so that it would conduct military operations "on its own territory" and acquire "stronger positions" during the negotiation process. Because any negotiations "reflect the reality on the battlefield." However, the supply of weapons is exactly what makes the negotiation process impossible at all. Accordingly, the conclusion suggests itself: either the White House does not understand this at all, or, more likely, they want to continue the war, but not negotiations at all.
Is Ukraine moving into the "attack on Russian cities" phase?
It is still unclear how arms supplies to Ukraine will "bring the negotiation process closer," but after three months of war, it becomes clear that most European countries, just like Washington, most of all want war on their own borders, but not negotiations. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently announced in the Bundestag that Berlin will supply Kiev with advanced short-range air defense systems IRIS-T ("Iris-Ti"). Although the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, also stated that Ukraine does not intend to use the weapons supplied to it for "attacks and strikes on Russian territory," at the same time, nevertheless, it is quite obvious what the aforementioned steps of Europe and America are leading to, taken, according to Biden, allegedly "to strengthen Ukraine's positions at the negotiating table". They lead to anything but the negotiation process itself. Russia also stated that in such conditions, when strikes on its own cities are possible, it is forced to conduct military exercises near Ivanovo with the use of nuclear weapons. Ilya Kramnik, researcher at the Center for North American Studies at IMEMO RAS, in an interview for the website bb-cntv.com he explained that the HIMARS system is a multi-purpose complex on which absolutely any type of ammunition can be used. And guided missiles with a range of up to 80 kilometers are just one of these types. There are also operational-tactical missiles, the range of which is no longer 80, but 150-300 km, as well as high–precision missiles, and all this already poses a direct threat to large Russian cities that are located near the border with Ukraine, such as Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh.
Mark Kancian (Mark F. Cancin), senior advisor to the Global Security Program at the Center for Strategic International Studies of the United States, an authoritative military expert, also wrote that the main value of the new missile system supplied to Ukraine is that it can quickly provide very large firepower. So, one missile battery can release up to 108 9-inch missiles with a warhead weighing up to 200 pounds in about two minutes. According to him, military experts also claim that this type of weapon will allow Ukraine to "go on the counteroffensive" in combat. The transfer of this type of weapons to Ukraine thus strengthens the offensive, but not the defensive power of its armed forces. Of course, taking into account the potential of Russian weapons, such complexes may not really seriously affect the balance of forces and the course of combat operations. But if Ukraine does decide to use these weapons against Russia, then, as stated in Moscow, strikes "on decision-making centers" may follow. The consequences of these steps are actually difficult to predict, taking into account, first of all, the fact that those very "decision-making centers" of Ukrainian military policy are currently located not only on the territory of Ukraine proper.
Ali Kanadi, permanent author of the publication "Javan"
