Oleksiy Arestovych submitted his resignation as an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday after comments he made about a Russian missile hitting an apartment building in Dnipro.
After the strike in Dnipro on Saturday, Arestovych said the Russian missile that hit the building may have fallen after it was shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. The comments drew heavy criticism in Ukraine, leading Arestovych to say that no one would blame Ukraine for the incident since it happened as Russia was bombarding the country.
The Kremlin denied that Russian forces targeted the apartment building and pointed to Arestovych’s comments. “The Russian armed forces have not been delivering strikes on residential buildings … You could see statements by some [Ukrainian] officials about that tragedy having been caused by an air defense counterattack,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Ukrainian military officials denied that air defenses shot down the missile. They said it was a Kh-22 anti-ship missile and insisted Ukrainian forces don’t have the capability to intercept them. According to Ukrainian authorities, the strike on the apartment building killed 44 people, including five children.
Arestovych ultimately apologized for his remarks and submitted a resignation letter on Tuesday. “Wrote a resignation statement. I would like to show an example of civilized behavior: a mistake in principle, therefore, resignation,” he wrote on Facebook.
In his apology, Arestovych said he was sorry “to the victims and their relatives, the residents of the Dnieper and everyone who was deeply wounded by my premature error version of the reason the Russian missile hit a residential building.” Arestovych also hit back at the criticism, saying, “The level of hate towards me is incomparable with the consequences of an error on the air.”
No one with the slightest bit of common sense can believe that Russian forces deliberately targeted an apartment building, unless there was convincing evidence that it was being used for some important military purpose. And if that was the case here. the Kremlin would almost certainly have have said so by now. So, absent convincing evidence to the contrary, the plausible explanations are that the missile went astray or was indeed shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems. It’s fairly likely that Arestovych’s explanation is correct.
It’s amazing how effective a propaganda campaign can be when so many elements occupy a range of the credibility scale between “very unlikely” and “clearly a blatant lie.”
The most plausible explanation would be a missile that didn’t hit where it was supposed to because of a targeting error or because it was knocked off course by air defense.
A not entirely implausible explanation is that the Russian forces are waging, at least partially, a terror campaign. That’s not unusual in war.
No, Thomas, that’s entirely implausible.
Only if one assumes that the Russians, unlike any military force in history (including their own forebears) are uniquely, strongly, and never-hypocritically moral.
No, Thomas, absolutely wrong. For a number of reasons having nothing to do with morality, the notion that Russia is conducting a terror campaign against Kiev is implausible. It has nothing to gain, much to lose, and it doesn’t need to.
As to whether there’s anything to gain, disruption of a major industrial center due to panic/flight is an obvious benefit of a successful terror campaign.
There doesn’t seem to be much to lose from conducting a terror campaign either. That’s been the constant accusation since the war began, and that accusation will continue to be made whether it’s true or not.
Nearly a year into the war, “it doesn’t need to” doesn’t scan. When you fail to win, fail to win some more, fail to win a little bit, and keep failing to win, the temptation to do something tends to manifest as try anything.
But it wouldn’t really be a “try anything” scenario anyway. Terror campaigns are part and parcel of war, especially extended war.
You mean you STILL believe the stories of the msm???? There are other media outlets with evidence and explanations. Try the new atlas, or moon of alabama, or i earl grey.
Until I see a reason not to, I’ll STILL believe that my calendar is reasonably accurate.
“When you fail to win, fail to win some more, fail to win a little bit, and keep failing to win …”
Sorry, Thomas, but you’re in the Kool-Aid Zone. Russia had this war won — whether against Ukraine, European NATO, or the entire Neocon-owned West — before it ever started. Because Russia was fully prepared, while the West was totally unprepared. Russia had the necessary military means, while the West was all arrogance and propaganda.
What you characterize as “failing to win” was actually an approach based in gradualism. That ***RATIONAL*** approach was aimed at convincing Ukraine (and the West) to accede to Russia’s requirement of a mutual and balanced security arrangement.
The recognition of both Russia’s ***RATIONAL*** security needs and its self-evident superior military capability should have resulted in an immediate effort at a negotiated settlement. Thus bringing an end to the resort to force and military violence and minimizing the death and destruction.
Unfortunately for Ukraine and the West, this approach “failed” because it didn’t recognize that the Neocons who are in charge are not rational, they and insane, and were never going to step back from anything short of total victory over Russia.
The consequent — and inevitable — Russian “failure” to persuade the Neocon-dominated West to pursue the rational course — a negotiated settlement — resulted in the continuation of the conflict. The “pain dial” turned up … but to no effect.
The demonstration of Neocon insanity eventually persuaded Putin that the only course remaining was the total conquest of Ukraine, which is now proceeding … slowly and carefully.
The Neocon disconnect from reality means that now they will have to deal with total defeat. It will be interesting to see just how they deal with that. More interesting will be how the US and EU manage to prevent the Neocon crazies, when faced with the catastrophe of defeat, from resorting in desperation to “the nuclear option “.
I expect Putin to have a plan for that … but we shall see.
Eleven months of failing to even secure the minimal rational objective (control of Donbas) says that the Russians were far from “fully prepared” and remain well behind the 8-ball.
“Jeff Davis finds facts of reality inconvenient” is indeed a Kool-Aid indicator, but I’m enjoying my Diet Dr. Pepper while you’re draining pitchers of grape sugar water.
Unkind. Everyone here is equally in the dark about what is going to happen – including you.
The rope you’re walking here is getting thin…..
Terror campaign would work if they could turn the civilian population against Zelensky government. This only unites them.
Whether anything, including a terror campaign, “works” is a question of the campaign’s objective.
A terror campaign in Dnipro would not necessarily have the objective of turning the population against Zelenskyy. It could simply have an objective of, for example, hobbling an industrial city’s production capacity by stampeding significant numbers of workers into fleeing.
They r using s300s for ground strikes now. They simply don’t have enough high end missiles to waste them on terror strikes against civilian targets.
I’m agnostic on the subject of the amount/reliabllity of their missile/ammo supply, as I am with the other side’s.
But, even assuming a shortage of missiles on the Russian side, it could be that they assess using what they have to inspire terror/panic is the best “bang for buck” use of those missiles. “Legitimate military targets” are more likely to be covered by air defense and require multiple missile launches to achieve anything.
That Russia may be partially waging a terror campaign is a relatively implausible explanation. If they were doing so, there would be many many such incidents to report and many more civilian deaths than the less than 10,000 number after almost a year of war. Compare the civilian deaths here with our terror “shock and awe” attacks in Iraq and the difference is clear.
The point of a terror campaign isn’t to inflict maximum casualties. It’s to create terror. And one of the main creators of terror is uncertainty. “Yes, they only took out one of the many apartment complexes in this large city … could mine be next??
As for the Iraq comparison, the Iraqi civilian body count (according to the Iraq Body Count Project) after two years was less than 25,000, and US forces were thought to be responsible for only 9,000 or so of those.
Don’t disagree re the “point” however, there would be more than a few such incidents if there was a plan, one would think.
I guess “relatively implausible” and “not entirely implausible” are somewhat similar anyway so we don’t really disagree … but one sounds less plausible …
I agree that by far the most plausible explanation is “accident” — the missile was knocked off course by air defense, or it had a mechanical problem, or there was a targeting error.
Instead of the Western media assuming the Russians are like the USA “shock and awe” and also believing every word of the Ukrainian “authorities”, actually listening to what Russia says it is trying to achieve would give some insight into the actions of Russia and its reasons. Assuming they are evil terrorists unable to be rational means you are dehumanising them and denying any rights to respond to Ukraine’s provocations.
Yup, and let’s recall ZelBoy’s insistence that a Russian missile hit Poland.
What “Russia” (i.e. Vladimir Putin) said “Russia” was trying to achieve at the beginning of the war was regime change (“de-militarization and de-Nazification”).
I’ve always believed the actual objectives were more sane/rational/achievable than that, and that Putin would settle for absorbing the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
Could I be wrong about that? Could Putin really be barking spiders insane? Sure. But I’ve seen no reason to suppose that he is.
Nor do I regard him as necessarily more evil and terroristic than Joe Biden or Volodomyr Zelensky.
All regimes are evil and terroristic.
I get more of my ideas about Russian goals, activities, and objectives from e.g. RT than I do from “Western media.” But I get it by looking at what’s actually there instead of by fantasizing that whatever I want to be there is there.
“de-militarization and de-Nazification”
Over 100,000 dead Nazis says Putin is well on his way to achieving his stated goals… Crazy like a fox, I’d say.
Zero evidence does not entitle responsible posters to declare plausibility as a substitute.
Plausibility is the only thing 99.999999999% of the global population — that is, anyone who didn’t fire the missile or crew an air defense weapon that shot it down — has to go on. The claims of the involved regimes aren’t “evidence.”
I wouldn’t claim otherwise, which is why I wouldn’t rely on plausibility as a substitute. The fact of the matter is that none of us knows what happened, but interestingly, the Ukrainian side requires us to believe this was part of the Russian terror campaign, while so far the Russian spokespeople say they do not have a definite reason why the missile hit the building, but that the fact of it does not mean they were firing this particular missile to scare the crap out of civilians.
Which side am I inclined to believe – at this point? Not the Ukrainian regime, based on outcomes of an ongoing series of successful attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure over a period of a good half year.
Your mileage obviously may differ.
It is a fairly imprecise missile but one flying at a very high speed – hence the most likely explanation is that it went astray or just missed its target
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-22
http://www.military-today.com/missiles/kh_22.htm
I was going to explain that the Military Today entry on the Kh-22 is seriously inaccurate, but I think we can deal with that site more generally.
If you want your posts to be taken seriously, it’s probably a good idea not to use as a reference source a website with this prominently featured on its top page:
Point accepted source not the best, however on this missile there are other sources that back up the idea that the Kh-22 is a fairly inaccurate missile when used in cities – the system being designed to hit aircraft carriers at sea.
CEP: 100-300 m
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-22
https://en.missilery.info/missile/x22
But if you want to imply that the Russians deliberately targeted a civilian house, then by all means, while I would not put it past them, I also rather believe in inaccuracy than blame them for being evil.
I would not put it past you to pull stuff out of your behind and present it as proof.
There is also no such thing as a missile that “can’t be intercepted.” Any defensive system could, even if only by luck or chance, intercept any enemy missile.
And one wonders too why the Zelensky aid would initially say that it HAD been intercepted, if it wasn’t. Qui bono? Who gains from such a statement, especially if it wasn’t true? And, don’t we constantly hear the Ukies boasting (ie lying) about how they routinely shoot down a large percentage of Russian missiles? Now, all of sudden, they are helpless to do so?
I call complete BS on the whole thing!
The Russians aimed the missile at a legitimate target. The missile is generally accurate enough to refute a charge of either deliberate or reckless targetting of civilians. The missile either missed, or, more likely, the aide was telling the truth to begin with, and the missile was diverted by a Ukie anti missile system.
Either way, it is much ado about very little, in terms of yet another BS, war crime accusation.
If Russia wanted to hit civilians, hundreds of thousands would be dead. If Russia was even reckless about causing civilian casualties, many tens of thousands would be dead.
Yes to all of that.
It’s hard to deny this guys comment since Ukrainians used their air defense system to fire inside Poland.
Yeah, there is that too. The Ukies are on record as being liars. They lied about Snake Island. They lied about the “Ghost of Kiev.” They lied about their own missile landing in Poland. They lie, and lie, and lie. IMO, everything they say should be considered a lie unless it is against interest (as was the aide’s initital assessement here) or can be verified conclusively by objective proof.
Fake resignation. Just theater.
(Sarcasm Alert) When was it ever (did I say ever?) an “example of civilized behavior” to resign if you said something against propaganda that might have actually been the truth? Let’s all hold hands with Zelensky and pray to return to the serenity of the CIA narrative: “Lord Zelensky, we ask your forgiveness. The Russians waste perfectly good bombs on civilian buildings and maternity hospitals because they are bad and stupid. Their Generals can only manage to get themselves killed. Ukraine is leading the world against evil. So pure are our intentions to join NATO, that the entire world is ready to die in a nuclear war to make it happen…” Sorry guys. For the record, I started the day promising not to make a sarcastic comment. All it took was that comment and I just couldn’t help myself.
Poor advisor forgot that he’s participating in a religious faith where Russia simply cannot do anything right and thus must not ever be shown to have possibly not been at fault. Facts do not matter … Russia is wrong no matter what. For his heresy, he’s being hounded by the true believers.
As Alexis Mercouris says on YouTube, Arestovych is Zelensky’s spin doctor. He is the one who tells Western media what to write. There is no issue where he hasn’t been lying. He claimed that a Russian missile landed in Poland long after it was obvious it was a Ukie missile. When Ukie air-defense missiles fall in residential areas he always claims it’s Russian missiles. When Ukie artillery is placed in the streets, preferably near civilian buildings, and Russians fire at them, Arestovych is there to claim the Russians are “firing at civilians”. Likewise when Ukie soldiers were holed up in an abandoned hospital and an abandoned school.
Arestovych has been lying every day for a year – and long before that, pretending that Russia was “de facto occupying” Donbass, not that Kiev was bombarding the civilians.
The root cause of this atrocity; Russian Full Scale Invasion of Ukraine.
Desperate Putin with an incompetent Army with mediocre weapons attacking civilian infrastructure for months. He owns this mess and now he is admitting it.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/vladimir-putin-i-could-never-have-foreseen-2022s-unexpected-crises-that-i-created
Don’t dare to state the truth. All the western media have already spread the story of the”murderous Russian assault on a residential building”.
And this us how wars are lost. Publicly humiliate anyone that provides bad news so that only the official narrative is ever reported
The African, Middle Eastern, and Asian nations have been alerted that Ukrainian officials are no longer credible.
Europe and the US, of course, will treat them as the deciders of what is true and what is false.
Zelensky tells Americans to make sacrifices for Ukraine
The Ukrainian leader said that helping his country should be more important for Americans than domestic concerns
I didn’t notice this last July. The little man sure is full of what passes from his bowels…