With the Russian invasion of Ukraine now in a pivotal phase in the Donbas, the Ukrainians are no longer just defending their homeland, they are bringing the war to Russia.
After Russia has indiscriminately bombed Ukrainian cities, including the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy with over 50 missile strikes on Thursday, the Ukrainians are now exacting some “payback” and “karma” for the invasion.
Three Russian provinces that border Ukraine were hit by explosions including fuel and ammunition depots. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak didn’t exactly admit Ukraine was responsible for the blasts but in a tongue-in-cheek statement, said it was natural that Russia learns about demilitarization.
The Russians had earlier accused Ukraine of using helicopter gunships of attacking a fuel depot at Belgorod inside of Russia. Ukrainian officials denied making the attack.
“If you (Russians) decide to massively attack another country, massively kill everyone there, massively crush peaceful people with tanks, and use warehouses in your regions to enable the killings, then sooner or later the debts will have to be repaid,” Podolyak said.
Podolyak added that it was not possible to “sit out” the Russian invasion. “And therefore, the disarmament of the Belgorod and Voronezh killers’ warehouses is an absolutely natural process. Karma is a cruel thing,” he said.
Belgorod province which borders Ukraine’s Luhansk, Sumy and Kharkiv areas were hit again on Wednesday as an ammunition depot was hit and set afire.
Belgorod regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the depot outside of the village of Staraya Nelidovka was extinguished quickly and that no civilian casualties were suffered in the fire.
Roman Starovoyt, the governor of Russia’s Kursk province, bordering Ukraine said to the official Russian news agency TASS that Russian air defenses had intercepted a Ukrainian drone that was overflying the area.
Putin Threatens Any West Countries That Get Involved in the War:
Russian President Vladimir Putin rattled the nuclear saber once again, threatening any countries from the West that get involved in the war in Ukraine that they would face a “lightning response” from Russia.
Ostensibly speaking to Russian lawmakers in St. Petersburg, but with the true target audience in western Europe and in Washington, Putin vowed quick military action for getting involved in the war.
“If someone intends to interfere in what is going on from the outside, they must know that constitutes an unacceptable strategic threat to Russia,” Putin said.
“They must know that our response to counter-strikes will be lightning-fast,” he added.
Putin touted the new “Sarmat” missile that was recently tested and hit targets in the Kamchatka Peninsula that is in the far east of Russia. Known in the West as the “Satan II”, the Sarmat is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that carries 10 independent warheads.
“We have all the instruments [to respond] that no one can boast of … we’re going to use them if we have to,” Putin said. “This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats, and make those who – in the heat of aggressive rhetoric – try to threaten our country think twice,” he added.
Russia Occupation “A Cancerous Growth”: UK Defense Secretary
The UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was not buying into the threats and stated that Putin’s remarks were a sign of “almost desperation, trying to broaden this either with threats or indeed, with potential false flags or attacks”.
“Having failed in nearly all his objectives,” Putin was now seeking to consolidate control of occupied territory, Wallace added. “Just be a sort of cancerous growth within the country in Ukraine and make it very hard for people to move them out of those fortified positions.”
Steve Balestrieri is a 1945 National Security Columnist. He has served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. In addition to writing for 19fortyfive.com, he has covered the NFL for PatsFans.com for more than 10 years and his work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers in Massachusetts.
