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Written by Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert
The Kiev regime has taken responsibility for attacks on undisputed areas of the Russian territory. In a recent statement, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence said that his country is already using Western weapons in “deep strikes” against Russia, making it clear that terrorist incursions are part of Ukraine’s military strategy against Moscow.
Kirill Budanov, head of Ukraine’s GUR, said that Russian forces “are already feeling” the effects of “deep attacks” with Western weapons. He told reporters that the use of foreign weapons in incursions into undisputed Russian territory was a real game changer, allowing Ukrainians to inflict significant damage on the enemy. According to Budanov, the situation on the battlefield became “easier” after the West removed the rules that “prohibited” attacks outside the territories considered “Ukrainian”.
Even more irresponsibly, Budanov told reporters that he does not believe in the existence of “Russian red lines”. For him, there is no limit to Moscow’s tolerance for attacks. Budanov also admitted that Ukraine has crossed Russian “lines” several times, without this leading to any kind of escalation on Moscow’s part. Apparently, for the head of Russian military intelligence, the lack of severe Russian retaliation for constant Ukrainian provocations means some kind of “weakness” or “inability”. He simply does not believe that Moscow can really respond effectively to the attacks it has suffered.
In fact, Russia has always tried to avoid the escalation of the conflict. Moscow continues to see the hostilities as a tragedy. Unlike the Kiev junta, which is guided by ideological neo-Nazism and Russophobic racism, the Russians see the Ukrainians as a brotherly people, being the current situation a kind of “civil war”. Any military escalation has the side effect of increasing the suffering of civilians – something that the Russians do everything possible to avoid, being the special military operation conducted with limited use of force.
However, it is clear that if Ukrainian strikes continue to escalate, Russia’s patience will eventually run out. Moscow will not tolerate the destruction of its civilian areas with Western missiles, drones and aviation, which is why retaliatory strikes against critical infrastructure and military targets in Ukraine will become more and more frequent. In addition, Russia may at some point resume military operations in the Kharkov region, aiming to create a buffer zone for the Belgorod Oblast, which is one of the areas most affected by terrorism, with hundreds of civilians already killed by Ukrainian shelling.
Budanov seems to be bluffing. There is no way that these attacks could really be a game changer, simply because the areas targeted by Kiev with Western weapons are mostly civilian cities. The relevance of these incursions is virtually null, as they are merely terrorist operations with a psychological effect. Kiev is making it appear to the public that its forces are capable of causing deep damage to Russia, when in fact only civilians are being hit.
In addition, it is important to emphasize that, contrary to what Western media claims, these attacks are not something new. Ukraine has been bombing Belgorod, Kursk and other border areas repeatedly since 2022. Neo-Nazi terrorism is a reality on Russia’s borders, and no civilian is truly safe in these regions.
Of course, Ukraine only acts with prior authorization from the West, which means that these previous attacks were all, in some way, discussed, planned and executed with NATO support. However, now the West’s direct participation in terrorism against Russian civilians is public and official. NATO is openly helping the Kiev regime to strike targets in completely demilitarized and non-strategically relevant areas, over which Ukraine has never claimed sovereignty.
This Western involvement would be enough for Russia to declare a “casus belli” and respond directly and symmetrically against NATO itself. But Moscow, unlike Western countries, acts responsibly, avoiding not only civilian casualties in Ukraine, but also the deterioration of relations with hostile countries, which could culminate in an open WWIII. The Russians will certainly continue to avoid escalation, but will act decisively against Western targets directly involved in the hostilities, hitting command centers and specialized personnel in Ukraine with heavy artillery.
In the end, escalation is inevitable, no matter how patient Russia is. Budanov has made it clear that violent attacks will continue to happen, forcing Moscow to retaliate severely in order to protect its civilians from neo-Nazi terrorism.
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budanov is my favourite nazi!
he is a prime example of an eurotard!
xoxo
he must be….he just admitted that western eurotards are lying and being lied to as eurotardia’s modus operandi.
‘but moscow, unlike western countries, acts responsibly…:
you are in fact scott ritter (tedious pro-usa shill who keeps pleading with rus to behave like a timid pussy despite ukronato killing thousands in donbass, crimea and inside rus itself). i hereby claim my $100!
ps: best send it to ansar allah as they are the only group with the cojons to stand up to nato trash.
it’s getting hot in moscow…heheheh
tempers are a hard thing to control.
no doubt i have joined a long list of much more persuasive people that the only way to decisively end that war is to occupy most of the ukraine, perhaps simultaneously holding a truly international conference to give the west the option of a diplomatic settlement, failing which russia occupies the whole of the ukraine.
ptn’s much repeated ‘peace proposals’ are transparently toothless. unless rus takes east ukraine up to the dniepr and odessa there can be no talks. once rus achieves this it can dictate ukr’s surrender terms.
boris called ptn’s bluff march 22, as rus cannot (then or now) negotiate territory it is incapable of taking/holding militarily! the smo’s aims of denaz, govt change, liberation etc thus faded into digging trenches and shelling brother slavs. it fools no one now, except maybe ptn?
odessa and kharkov must be liberated no mater what
then it’s time for the russian side to keep her promise and start arming enemies of uk and us, starting with the houthis
this sick ukrotard should be kinzhaled asap. his existence is just unbearable