Al Thaer
Uрena Xapo
Russia does not have a coherent air defence system. And no one is working on its creation. If NATO attacks, Russia will lose its aviation and strategic facilities on its western border in two or three hours. Putin has too much faith that NATO will not attack. Stalin's belief that Hitler would not attack the USSR was costly.
The strike by Ukrainian drones on the Pskov airfield, which damaged at least four aircraft, raises the question of the inability of the Russian Armed Forces to resist air attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But an even bigger problem is the insecurity of Russia's military infrastructure on the border with NATO. If NATO attacks, Russia will lose aircraft and equipment at airfields and bases 400 kilometres from the border in a few hours. Similarly, the USSR lost much of its military potential in 1941. After each Ukrainian attack, Russia's vulnerability becomes increasingly apparent and incites a potential enemy.
According to TASS (Russia's leading state propaganda news agency), citing emergency services, four IL 76 aircraft were damaged in an attack by Ukrainian security forces on the night of August 30 on the Pskov military airfield.
Military sources do not confirm the version that the drones from the Baltic states "flew through Ukraine and Belarus. "However, Ukrainian strikes on an airfield near the NATO border raise the question of what would happen if the Alliance struck Russia.
The most crucial airfield near the NATO border does not have proper cover from air attacks. They did not reach any conclusions after the Soltsy airfield attack ten days ago, which destroyed a Tu-22M3 bomber (two aircraft, according to Ukrainian data). The government's talk of "confrontation with NATO" is empty propaganda. Putin believes that NATO will not attack Russia under any circumstances. Otherwise, military facilities near the border with the Alliance would not be left unprotected. A possible NATO strike would have catastrophic consequences for the Russian Armed Forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reports on the "successful repulsion of the drone attack". However, they keep quiet about cases where the drones broke through the defence. In addition to Pskov, a fuel reservoir in the Kaluga region and a microelectronics plant in Bryansk were damaged.
The war with Ukraine, which the authorities are trying to position as a confrontation with the West, shows Russia is not ready for a clash with NATO. If NATO decides to strike at Russia, it will be able to destroy Russia's defence infrastructure within hours. Russia is not preparing for a war with NATO, apparently based on the belief that the Alliance will never attack first. It is a risky strategy based on assumptions, not facts.
The Russian authorities were convinced that Kyiv would fall in three days and Ukraine in two weeks; Ukrainians would greet Russian tanks with flowers; the West would not support Ukraine; Europe would "freeze" without Russian energy. They chased a few parts of the Ukrainian territory and suddenly found that they had "opened up" a considerable part of Russia to the strategic enemy. If NATO decides to strike, it will be an exemplary operation, unlike what Putin and Shoigu are doing.
In addition, after each Ukrainian strike that demonstrates the weakness of Russian military facilities close to the NATO border, the idea of Russia's weakness and inability to confront the Alliance militarily gains supporters in NATO headquarters. Putin weakened Russia and then decided to go to war. It is not just a crime, and it is a mistake. The same error Stalin made. And now he is a "hero" in Russia. This "hero" allowed Hitler to destroy thousands of aeroplanes and tanks in the first days of the war. Even Putin should already understand that he needs to ask for peace immediately. The regime is losing the war.