Overnight Wednesday, July 31, Russia launched one of the most massive kamikaze drone barrages at Ukraine since the outset of the full-scale invasion. Designating Kyiv as the main target, Russia launched dozens of one-way attack UAVs at the Ukrainian capital, a peaceful city deep behind the current frontlines. This was the seventh drone swarm attacking Kyiv since the start of July, also being so far the most massive attack this year.
The drones were coming in waves, almost from all directions. Air defense forces intercepted over 40 of UAVs in Kyiv’s airspace and on the approach to the capital.
Among other things, such specific attacks aim to expose any weak spots in the Ukrainian air defense network as part of preparing a major missile attack. Russia has quite widely used the tactic of combined strikes, involving cyber capabilities, drones, and missiles).
By launching massive strikes, the Kremlin seeks to incite panic among Ukrainians, at the same time spinning narratives about the need for «peace at any cost,» which would de facto imply Ukraine’s capitulation. The Kremlin expects that, affected by fear, Ukrainians will demand from their government certain concessions for Russia.
Besides traditional attacks on critical infrastructure and apartment blocks, Russia seeks to achieve several ambitious goals by spreading rumors of a major offensive being in the works. Russian propagandists claim that the invasion force keeps gaining ground on the Ukrainian battlefield, presenting it as a significant tactical edge.
Russia is pushing the narrative about an intensified offensive and Ukraine lacking forces and capabilities to stop it. Recently, reports came in claiming Russia has designed new drones and a new modification of the Iskander-1000 missile, with a warhead that’s allegedly 1.5 times more powerful than the previous model Reports claim Russia seeks to test out the new models as part of its ongoing war effort in Ukraine.
All these steps are part links in a single chain of events aimed at exerting psychological pressure on the Ukrainian population. It is also seen as a petty effort to avenge successful strikes by Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Moscow cannot afford any weakness in the eyes of its few allies. At the same time, the Kremlin takes no account of the security of its allies. It has already been several times that during a massive drone attack on Ukraine, Shahed kamikaze drones violated the Belarusian airspace. Some Telegram channels reported that Belarusian jets even scrambled to intercept these drones just in case.
In order not to fall into the Russian trap, as it happened with Belarus, the West should invest more in Ukraine – both financially and militarily. The assistance must be quick, meaningful, and creative in order to defeat Russia in the war the latter has unleashed. The simplest and most effective way to protect freedom is to invest in Ukraine’s defenses immediately.