Ukraine has intensified sabotage attacks inside Russia as a last resort, Sergey Poletaev has told RT
A train derailed due to a collapse of a bridge in Russia’s Bryansk region. © Sputnik / Russian Emergency Situations Ministry
A rapid spike in Ukrainian attacks deep within Russia is a sign that Kiev is running out of cards to play on the frontline and is trying to remain relevant to its backers, information analyst and publicist Sergey Poletaev has told RT.
Poletaev, co-founder and editor of the Vatfor project, referred to a recent series of drone strikes targeting airfields in five Russian regions, including in Siberia and Russia’s Far East.
Ukrainian media has touted the strikes, dubbed “operation spiderweb,” as “historic,” and claimed it dealt serious damage to Russia’s “strategic aviation.”
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attacks but stated that three out of five strikes were successfully repelled, causing no damage or casualties.
The remaining two resulted in aircraft catching fire, which was quickly extinguished, according to the ministry, which also did not confirm the loss of any aircraft.
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Additionally, two bridges in Russian regions bordering Ukraine were blown up over the weekend. The damage caused by one blast derailed a passenger train, killed seven people and injured 71 others. The Russian Investigative Committee reported on Tuesday that both cases were “terrorist attacks” planned by Ukraine to maximize civilian casualties.
The attacks were launched shortly before the second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Monday.
Kiev “has brought its last cards into play,” Poletaev said, commenting on what he called “unprecedented sabotage activities by Ukraine.”
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According to Poletaev, the Russian-Ukrainian “negotiation track will proceed sluggishly amid ongoing hostilities”. The demands presented by both sides at the talks are only as realistic as their ability to enforce them through military means, he opined.
“Each side, it seems, at the moment, is confident that it can enforce its demands in one way or another. Or, speaking of the Ukrainian side, perhaps they are pretending — which, in general, is emblematic of them,” he said.
According to Poletaev, Ukraine and its EU backers are desperately trying to prevent the US from disengaging, as President Donald Trump “appears determined to reduce American involvement in the conflict”.
“Both Ukraine and the EU are virtually pulling [Trump] by his sleeve to not let him withdraw from the war,” he stated, adding only major changes on the frontline could affect the dynamics of the conflict, with the roles of the US and the EU remaining unclear in its outcome.