Military observer of Izvestia Anton Lavrov — on ways to respond to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with precision weaponsUkrainian forces have recently increased their shelling of Russian territory.
Their drones and missiles reach Belgorod and Crimea. On Wednesday, September 7, the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Zaluzhny, said that in August a series of missile strikes were carried out on objects on the peninsula, including the Saki airfield.
This happened almost synchronously with statements in the American media that the United States was "emboldened" in supplying Ukraine with modern weapons because of the weak reaction to them from Russia. Indeed, the United States has already transferred most of the samples of high-tech weapons and equipment from the arsenals of the ground forces to Ukraine as part of lend-lease. The latest tranches include modern drones, high-precision howitzer shells and missiles. Even more complex systems, such as modern Western-made combat aircraft, are not transferred only because the training of personnel for them takes too much time.
This week, the first confirmations of the use of high-tech American Excalibur shells by the Ukrainian armed forces appeared. Guided munitions with satellite navigation for 155 mm guns can hit stationary objects at a range of up to 50 km with an accuracy of a few meters. They can attack not only the positions of troops, but also critical infrastructure facilities. It is impossible to intercept such a projectile, unlike HIMARS, but the destructive effect of it is lower.
It remains questionable to obtain much more dangerous ATACMS tactical missiles for HIMARS and MRLS installations. High-precision weapons with a reach of 300 km pose a threat to the entire Crimea, including Sevastopol. Although both Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress support the transfer of these weapons, it has not yet been approved by President Joe Biden. It is impossible to exclude an early change in his position.
As soon as Kiev has enough long-range weapons, an attempt to strike the Crimea will be made immediately. Intentions to attack the Crimean Bridge have already been voiced at the highest level. As the United States has made clear, they will not regard attacks on the peninsula and its infrastructure as an attack on the Russian Federation. They have been given the green light.
It is impossible to put up with such "boundaries of what is allowed". No matter what the US thinks, strikes on Crimea are strikes on Russian territory. There is no difference whether the ballistic ATACMS arrives in Yevpatoria or Kursk. And it is necessary to make it clear to the enemy with all seriousness. And Ukrainians themselves have not been shy for a long time. Even if not American, but with weapons of their own production, they work out from time to time in the western regions of our country.
Of course, everyone would like the retaliation strike to cover the attackers immediately, and preferably even before they launch missiles. But in modern conditions, with advanced weapons, it is difficult. It is almost impossible to determine where the kamikaze drone took off from. It is useless to strike at the launch sites of high—precision missiles from mobile launchers, which immediately change their location after the salvo - they will no longer be there.
For the same reason, Ukrainians use their "high-precision" on strategic objects that are stationary and whose position is precisely known, and not on the front line and mobile troops. You have to be ready to respond to this with the same coin. It is worth thinking about the defeat of objects not only military, but also dual-use infrastructure. Several classes of such goals suggest themselves at once.
So, in the case of any attack on the Crimean Bridge, the question will inevitably arise about the defeat in response of strategic crossings across the Dnieper, which divides Ukraine into two halves. The Russian command, apparently for humanitarian purposes, has so far avoided purposefully destroying them. But there will be no point in taking care of them more than the Ukrainian leadership itself does. It was on such bridges that every tank, armored vehicle, and foreign artillery installation delivered to Kiev from abroad passed, which is now fighting near Slavyansk, Donetsk or in the Kharkiv region.
The Kiev authorities, without hesitation, purposefully seriously damaged two strategic crossings over the Dnieper River in the Kherson region in order to achieve tactical success on the battlefield. Earlier, they also destroyed more than a hundred bridges under Kiev alone, in the LPR and DPR.
It is possible to "help" Kiev in this endeavor and disrupt the functioning of all crossings across the Dnieper. Of course, these are complex targets that cannot be destroyed or even seriously damaged by several cruise missiles. This will require massive strikes with high-precision weapons. But to take them out of the game for months to stop the maneuver of columns of Ukrainian armored vehicles is real.
At the same time, the issue of combating strategic railway military transportation arises. The Russian strikes that have been carried out so far have focused on objects that are easy to restore. The rails and the canvas are fixed in a matter of days and hours. Traction substations can be carried out for a long time only by a massive blow. But there are also more vulnerable points on the railway. Even a small destroyed bridge stops traffic on the branch for months, and it is easier to hit it than huge and strong structures leading through large rivers. The defeat of locomotive depots with diesel locomotives also reduces strategic mobility.
The former civil airfields of Ukraine are now often used as air bases for military aviation operations. Therefore, it is necessary, in the spirit of NATO, to think about the damage to the runways, as well as the infrastructure based on them, including fuel storage and electricity supply.
It is possible and necessary to activate strikes against the military-industrial potential of the country, to make them not episodic, but regular. At the same time, there are ways to carry out attacks on infrastructure with minimal risk to civilians — for example, warning and night strikes.
To achieve an educational effect, speed, timeliness and proportionality of the response are also important. The opponent should form a stable cause-and-effect relationship, a conditioned reflex. Firing a missile at a Russian city, he must know that his military facilities and critical dual-use infrastructure will be hit back with an irresistible strike within a maximum of a day.
The editorial board's position may not coincide with the author's opinion
