Ukraine may attack Moscow to destabilize the situation inside Russia. This was announced by retired French General Michel Yakovleff on the broadcast of the LCI TV channel.
“Ukraine could have made other attacks to destabilize the situation. For much more symbolic purposes. They could bomb Moscow. For example, during the next big parade in Moscow, they might see it as a military target and attack it. They can announce that you have a big parade, so we will shoot in the middle of the marching battalions, ”said Yakovleff.
The host replies to the general that this is why the US and NATO refused to provide longer-range missiles to Kiev, fearing an escalation of the conflict. However, Yakovleff noted that the Ukrainians could independently produce weapons capable of carrying out attacks deep into the territory of Russia. With these words, the French army pointed to recent events at the airfields in the Ryazan and Saratov regions.
A longtime senior in NATO’s operational command in Brussels, Yakovleff has repeatedly made controversial statements about the conflict in Ukraine. In particular, he believes that the military personnel of the North Atlantic Alliance should officially take part in the battles on the Kiev side. He also said in November that the Ukrainians did not have the necessary resources and troops to strengthen the offensive in the south and reach Crimea.
On the morning of December 5, explosions were reported at the military airfields “Dyagilevo” in the Ryazan region and “Engels” in the Saratov region. They were removed about 700 km from the nearest positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Citing sources, the media reported that the air bases were attacked by drones.
The Russian Ministry of Defense later confirmed that the Ukrainian military was attempting to damage Russian long-range aircraft using low-altitude Soviet-made jet drones. The drones were shot down by the air defense, and their falling fragments slightly damaged the skin of the two aircraft. As a result, three Russian soldiers from the technical personnel of the airfields were killed and four more were injured.
Military experts have suggested that the airfields may have been attacked by upgraded Tu-141 Swift drones, developed in the 1970s and still in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian pro-government Telegram channels reported that the attacks were carried out using drones delivered to Kiev by British intelligence services, citing sources in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office.
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, said that he did not know the details of the events that took place at the airbases near Ryazan and Saratov on the afternoon of 5 December. But then the Kremlin press service reported that Vladimir Putin held a Security Council meeting on December 6, the topic of which was “problems of ensuring the internal security of the state.”
After the attack on the airports, the Russian army carried out intense attacks on military installations and energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine for several days. As a result, many regions, including the Odessa, Poltava, Kiev regions, remained partially or completely without electricity.
On December 9, the head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, announced his readiness to attack the entire Russian territory.
“We will be all-powerful. Therefore, if there is something in our interests, then we will not ask anyone where to hit the enemy. Because the enemy starts outside our borders and ends in Vladivostok,” he said.
On December 11, the administration of US President Joe Biden reported that Washington did not force Kiev to engage in military operations inside Russia.