Three Russian soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels airfield in Russia’s Saratov Oblast early Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Engels airfield is about 300 miles from the Ukrainian border and was targeted by a similar attack earlier this month. In the latest attack, Russian officials said that a Ukrainian drone was shot down while it was approaching the airfield.
“As a result of the fall of the wreckage of the drone, three Russian technical servicemen who were at the airfield were fatally injured,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
It’s not clear what type of drone was shot down on Monday. In the attacks Ukraine launched earlier this month, Russia said modified Russian Tu-141 drones were used. NATO military sources told Asia Times that the Tu-141s used US satellite GPS data to hit their targets despite Biden administration claims that the US didn’t “encourage nor enable” the attacks.
The Times recently reported that the Pentagon now tacitly backs Ukrainian attacks inside Russia, risking a major escalation with Moscow. The report said that the US was no longer concerned that Ukrainian attacks inside Russia could lead to a major escalation based only on the fact that Moscow hasn’t yet responded with nuclear weapons or attacks on NATO countries.
Has the Pentagon got manure for brains?….Russia isn’t stupid. They have to know that we’re supporting Ukraine… This could possibly escalate into a major war…
Probably ‘the Pentagon’ knows that the Russians are not stupid and do not have the slightest interest in a direct conventional conflict with the West – at least not one started by them – so thy need the US to strike first – which is not done by the Ukrainians sending old Soviet build droned to strike deep in Russia.
This is definitely intentional as it is part of a pattern.
I think the US lives that could be lost due to this stupid behavior is a risk that they are willing to take.
I think NATO is the joker in the deck. It is cracking, the people demonstrate against NATO. In Poland the people are not on board with their government. Polish soldiers have volunteered to fight in Ukraine because Ukraine has not enough men left, they put teens in uniform, the Baltic states are small and poor states. France, Germany, and Italy, and Turkey
may say no. No telling how the people will react. The press is controlled and manipulates public opinion. But that too has limits.
NATO is not cracking down on people demonstrating – NATO does not control the domestic affairs of its members – so perhaps NATO is not the joker you think, as you appear not to understand what NATO is.
In Poland the support for the Ukrainians is massive so a very significant majority behind the governments strong support for Ukraine.
https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/topics/latest-news/2022/december/support-for-ukraine-is-declining-slightly
No poles have volunteered to fight in Ukraine for many different reasons few if any have heard that Ukraine does not have men enough left as this simply is not true – Ukraine has a population similar to that of France at the start WWI – France lost more men on average every day for 4 years of that war, than Ukraine has lost on average every day during this war, and that is if we accept the Russian MOD figures for Ukrainian losses.
Richer per capita than e.g. Russia and having supported Ukraine at a much larger share of GDP than other countries – and still the populations are driving additional support through private campaigns.
https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/
What would they say no to? There is still significant majority support for delivering weapons in France and no majority against in Germany – perhaps more importantly there is support for energy independence (of Russia) in Germany and across EU.
And how does Turkey fit into this – there is no debate about NATO actions against Russia so even them saying no if they were to do so, does not have any effect.
The press is controlled all through EU and Turkey? Any supporting evidence for this assertion?
NATO has molasses for brains…”Moscow hasn’t Yet responded…” Yet can be a long time or a short time….
“The report said that the US was no longer concerned that Ukrainian attacks inside Russia could lead to a major escalation based only on the fact that Moscow hasn’t yet responded with nuclear weapons or attacks on NATO countries.”
So, what is the game plan? Since Russia took the bait and invaded Ukraine is the US/NATO going to put out bait until Russia responds with nukes? What other reason will stop them from putting out more bait?
The US government is not happy about these drone attacks. The truth is that Russia is fighting a Ukrainian national resistance. TheUS/NATO are backing the Ukrainians but the US/NATO does not control the Ukrainian resistance any more than the USSR controlled the North Vietnamese or the Vietcong. The Ukrainians are pissed off and will fight until Russia leaves. Ironically, Russia is in a worse strategic situation than if Putin had not invaded and instead confined his protests to futile diplomatic protests.
The consequences of wars are almost always worse for all parties than the consequences of provocations.
Over 8 years 14,000 civilians and combatants on both sides were killed in the Donbas insurgency. In Putin’s idiotic war hundreds of thousands have died, millions have been turned into refugees and the war has no end in sight. It has been a strategic disaster for Russia and a human catastrophe for Ukraine,. Putin’s war strengthened NATO, brought Ukraine closer to the West and involved Russia in a “forever war.” Putin’s war is insane and Russia needs a leadership that can recognize Putin’s mistake and have the courage to withdraw from Ukraine.
a ukraine drone managed to fly 300 miles into russia before it was shot down ?