ISW reveals real purpose of Russia's latest attack on Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin (photo: Getty Images)
Russia launched its massive June 2 attack on Ukraine to exploit shortages of Patriot missiles and divert attention from its inability to protect Russia's deep rear areas and from battlefield setbacks, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Analysts note that the Kremlin attempted to justify the massive strike on Kyiv by claiming it was a response to the May 22 attack on the headquarters of the Russian Rubicon drone center in occupied Starobilsk, Luhansk region.
Moscow falsely claims that Ukraine's Defense Forces struck a civilian facility, after which the Russian army allegedly targeted Ukraine's military and defense-industrial facilities.
However, the combined strike on June 2 caused significant damage to civilian and critical infrastructure, leaving about 23 people dead and more than 100 injured across Ukraine.
ISW notes that Russia's use of cluster munitions and double-tap strikes on emergency responders demonstrates a Russian tactic aimed at killing as many civilians in Ukraine as possible.
The analysts indicate that Russia's claims that the recent strikes were a response to a single strike on occupied Starobilsk are an attempt to conceal the fact that Russia would most likely have carried them out anyway.
ISW also describes the June 2 strike as part of a Russian escalation following the May 9-11 ceasefire, when Vladimir Putin was forced to ask Kyiv to refrain from striking Moscow so that a shortened Victory Day parade could take place. In this way, he seeks to recover from that embarrassment.
In addition, through intensified strike operations against Kyiv, Putin is also trying to break Ukraine's will to fight and conceal his inability to protect Russian territory from Ukrainian long-range strikes.
Massive attack on Ukraine on June 2
During the night of June 2, Russia launched a massive combined attack on Ukraine using ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, as well as attack drones.
In total, about 70 missiles and nearly 700 drones were launched. Air defense forces managed to destroy a significant portion of the aerial targets, but impacts from dozens of ballistic missiles were recorded.
More than 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured as a result of the attack on Ukraine.
As a result of the ballistic missile attack, part of Kyiv remained without electricity. Public transport routes in the capital were also temporarily changed due to damage to the contact network.
Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged in the attack. 7 people were killed in Kyiv, and nearly 90 others were injured.
Damage was also recorded in the Dnipro, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
More details about Russia's massive attack can be found in RBC-Ukraine's report.
