When it comes to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the first feeling is probably that Russia has a superiority, and what about Ukraine?
But from the latest news, the situation in Russia is not so optimistic, because Ukrainian cheap drones have played a big role in the battlefield, and there is even the possibility of changing the shape of the war, leaving Russia from now on without a real "back".
Has Ukraine reached Asia?
If you are still paying attention to the Russian conflict in Ukraine, you will also feel that the Russian military still occupies the advantage. after all, the media mostly that the Russian military advanced the defense line, occupied the territory, or the Russian military is "starting a massive attack."
For example, on October 9, the Russian troops have broken through the Ukrainian defense line in the center of Kupiyansk, attacked the city center, the Ukrainian army is hardly relying on the support of the "street fight", but even if they want to wait for the troops, they will not come so soon - because the Ukrainian front troops are seriously insufficient, the troops are also difficult to mobilize.
But that doesn’t mean that Ukraine has fallen into a “death situation” because Ukrainian drones still seem to dominate the battlefield.
On October 7, Russian media that the Antipinsky refinery in Okymin, Russia, may have been attacked by Ukrainian drones.
In Siberia, in the depths of Russia, this place belongs to the Asian block, more than 2,000 kilometers from the Oulu frontline.
So, everyone is eager to know, did Ukraine's drones really fly that far? Russia's response was very intriguing. At first, officials in Tyumen responded that local air defense forces had "shot down three Ukraine drones" and that the shooting down occurred over an "industrial facility" in Tyumen.
If this is true, it means that the Ukrainian drone actually travelled 2,000 kilometers and flew to the city of Qummin.
However, some Russian media reported that at 8:00 p.m. that day, local residents heard the explosion and saw many fire trucks heading in the direction of the Antipinsky refinery. This seemed to be "implying" that the interception was not successful, and the Ukrainian army succeeded at least in part.
In response to this, the Russian side said that there was no fire at the Antipynsk refinery, but as to whether you choose to believe it, it is clear.
However, whether Russia successfully intercepted or the Ukrainian army successfully attacked, it is already of extraordinary significance for Ukraine drones to fly to Tyumen City to carry out attacks.
Russia no longer has a safe zone.
Because this means that Russia may no longer have so-called "safe areas." Originally, after the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been going on for so long, both the Russian people and global public opinion still have a "reasonable assessment" of the scope of this war.
At least, Russians will think that the Ural Mountains are a natural barrier, and the distance of more than 2,000 kilometers from Ukraine is their "security guarantee". Moreover, traditionally, everyone also feels that Russia has a vast land area and a large strategic depth, and the rear is definitely relatively safe, which is also an important security guarantee for Russia to continue to advance to the front line.
But now, even Siberia is no longer safe. The arrival of Ukraine's drones in Tyumen is an obvious "warning" to Russia that they have the ability to strike deep into Russia. Even if they fail this time, more drones may arrive in the future.
For Russia, this is the worst part: what they think is safe is no longer safe, so what should they do next?
The very real question is, how should Russia's air defense system be arranged? Russia has a vast land area. In many cases, they pay more attention to the construction of air defense systems in Europe. In Siberia, there are always some omissions. This can be seen from the fact that after the Ukrainian drone entered Tyumen City this time, Tyumen City did not even sound the air defense siren.
So then, how should Russia deploy air defense systems to “block” these vulnerabilities?
Ukraine's drones are being procured in large quantities
Some say that this may be just a “coincidence,” and Ukraine may not have such a power. But I am afraid the situation is not so optimistic. Because just on October 6, the media also blasted that the United States is preparing to purchase large amounts of drones from Ukraine, because Ukraine’s cheap drones are “very effective” in the real war.
In September, Zelensky said that 60% of Ukraine’s weapons are domestic, powerful and with “advanced characteristics”, and it was clear that Ukrainian cheap drones are one of the important weapons projects.
According to the summary of American media, Ukraine's drones are low-cost, highly lethal, and iterate very quickly in technology. Now it only takes about one and a half months for Ukraine to produce a drone and achieve technological iteration. The actual combat application has given Ukraine a lead in this respect. Now, Ukraine's long-range attack drones and maritime drones are actually being "snapped up" by many countries.
That is to say, Ukraine has the ability to mass-build these cheap drones to attack Russia's mainland, and even wider territories, even if not each can fly over 2,000 kilometers, but if in quantity to "break" Russia will feel a headache.
Intercepting these drones with expensive air defense systems seems to be very unreasonable, and it is not possible to intercept them, and Russia is afraid to focus on solving this problem next.
And this also means that the form of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has begun to change, in the future, I am afraid that there will be no clear front and back, where unmanned units can fly, where is the front line, and how should Russia react next?
Russia must not only respond, but also maintain the sense of security of its people, and only in this way can they continue to fight and the final victory, which is also a considerable difficulty.
For us, this is also worthy of vigilance. The change in the form of war certainly cannot happen only on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield.
In fact, the forms of future wars may have really been revealed, and we must draw experience and lessons from them in order to stand invincible in future wars that may break out.
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