Vitaliy Portnikov / Vilni Media
The latest Russian attack, primarily targeting the Ukrainian capital, left no doubt even among those who might have assumed that Russia was attempting to hit military or industrial targets and not paying special attention to its missiles landing in residential areas located close to the attacked sites. No, this attack was directed specifically at residential areas – it seems the Russians weren’t even looking for any other targets, they wanted to destroy and intimidate. This is the true logic of terror.
A logical question arises: what does Putin hope to achieve with this terror against the civilian population? Does he truly believe that he can compensate for the lack of serious results on the frontlines with such strikes?
Knowing the behavior model of the Russian president, this cannot be entirely ruled out. At the dawn of his political career, in 1999, Putin attacked the residential areas of his own capital – the explosions of apartment buildings in Moscow and other cities of the Russian Federation were meant to convince citizens that only this small, unremarkable man who promised to “waste terrorists in the restroom” could ensure their safety.
Now he acts in the exact opposite way – attacking the residential areas of Kyiv so that Ukrainians realize: there will be no safety until they agree to his terms and give up their state and sovereignty.
Another of his goals fits into the logic of the demographic war he has waged against Ukraine practically since the first days of the great invasion. We have said many times that Putin’s true goal was to launch a blitzkrieg – the instantaneous occupation of Ukraine and the replacement of its government with a puppet one.
But in Russia, they understood perfectly well that such an attack would inevitably provoke a wave of refugees to Europe. And they pursued two goals. The first – to get rid of the local population, to then comfortably populate Ukrainian lands with Russian citizens, as is happening in the occupied territories of Ukraine. And the second – to provoke a large-scale migration crisis in Europe, which would help bring to power representatives of political forces oriented towards Moscow.
Putin already had experience organizing such a crisis when he assisted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. After all, it was then that far-right and far-left radicals, who have always called for understanding with the Kremlin, began to gain weight, and their ratings started to rise like yeast. I am sure that if it weren’t for the Syrian migration crisis, there would not have been such a rise of the “Alternative for Germany” and other far-right political parties in Europe.
As is known, these plans of Putin failed. The blitzkrieg did not happen. The migration crisis also did not materialize, because the arrival of Ukrainian refugees did not have the same consequences in European societies as the arrival of refugees from the Middle East – although, undeniably, now migration sentiments in Europe are starting to change. But nonetheless, one important consequence of the February 2022 attack was that Ukraine’s population indeed significantly decreased, millions left the country, and each new year of war leaves little hope that most of them will ever return.
And Putin continues to use tools that could help increase demographic pressure. After all, strikes on major cities also mean the potential relocation of the population, moving it to smaller cities and other countries, an attempt to deprive a neighboring state of economic and demographic prospects. And this is also the logic of terror.
Therefore, in my opinion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara should speak with U.S. President Donald Trump and other Western leaders about this terror. Not only about war, but about terror. About how Putin has ultimately transformed into the head of a terrorist organization that merely imitates a state. And from this world’s leading terrorist, it is now necessary to protect ordinary citizens who are becoming victims of his attacks. After all, this is no longer just a war of armies. This is a classic war against women and children – the kind of thing terrorist organizations in the Middle East engage in.
Therefore, strengthening Ukraine’s air defense to protect its civilians is crucial. Equally important are further strikes on the Russian economy to deprive terrorists of the money that enables them to continue committing crimes against the civilian population. And this involves not only Western sanctions aimed at stopping the sale of Russian oil and the purchase of Russian oil products by other countries. It is also the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine to destroy Russian industry and bring terrorists to their knees – the very knees they love to reference in their self-adulation. It turns out that Russia rises from its knees only to kill, rape, and maim. Well, let it stay on its knees and bother no one.
For those living in Ukraine, terror is not just an image, not just a metaphor. It’s the feeling of a moment when you are in a shelter and realize that missiles and drones are exploding nearby. Or when you sit in the corridor of your own apartment and hear the sounds of explosions. Or when you understand that your apartment is no more, and that your loved ones, killed by Putin and his operatives in military uniform, are no more. Therefore, assistance to Ukraine is not just money and metal. It is the possibility of surviving when you are slated to be killed.
Photo: Nick Tymchenko/Rubryka
