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Asia Times
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Asia Times
Ukraine targets Russian bases to force Trump's hand
In a brilliant operation that the Ukrainians say took 18 months to pull off, Ukraine attacked five Russian strategic bases, destroying and damaging Russian nuclear bombers. This is not the first time that Ukraine has attacked a Russian nuclear bomber site and other nuclear installations, including strategic missile early warning radars and closer-in Russian bomber bases. But this time, the attacks were very deep inside Russia. The Russians do not use shelters for their bomber fleet, a measure that a number of Russian defense experts have demanded, but without success in persuading the authorities in Moscow. While shelters probably are inadequate against heavy missiles, they would more than suffice against small drones. The US has a similar problem. A new independent report says that US airbases have been left worryingly vulnerable, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, by a lack of investment in new hardened aircraft shelters, or even unhardened ones. ( There are some aspects of the attack that warrant attention. The first is that a strike deep inside Russia was in parallel to other large-scale Ukrainian drone attacks closer to their shared border with Russia. Additionally, there were attacks on rail bridges and rail lines in Bryansk and Kursk. While Russian President Vladimir Putin was being briefed on the rail line attacks in the middle of the night, his air bases were exploding elsewhere. It is also noteworthy that the bases under drone attack appear not to have air defenses, or at least air defenses capable of engaging small FPV drones. The Ukrainians probably learned this from NATO overhead intelligence sources. There are no reports of any of the drones aimed at the five bases being shot down. Early reports suggested that the drones used in the attack were connected by satellite to Ukraine's GUR (military intelligence) command centers. More recent information, and more reliable, is that the Ukrainian drones were operated through the LTE cellphone network in Russia. LTE (which stands for Long Term Evolution) is a 4G cellular network and serves as the backbone of Russia's cellular system. The Ukrainians had no difficulty acquiring SIM cards for the drones and the containers that contained them, which were carried in commercial trucks. Reports indicate that the containers opened when they were within range of the targets. There is at least one report where a container top opened prematurely and the truck driver tried to push it closed, leading to an explosion. In another case, a truck was stopped and captured. Drone carrying containers in an assembly warehouse. The Ukrainians also had no difficulty sending these large containers into Russia and putting them aboard trucks in a warehouse in Chelyabinsk. Chelyabinsk is a city in west-central Russia, close to the Ural Mountains. From there, the drone trucks were sent to pre-designated locations. To do this and run such an operation a good sized team would have been needed. Ukraine claims they were all exfiltrated from Russian territory before the launch of the operation. Allegedly, the truck drivers were hired without knowing the contents of the cargo. The brazenness of the operation, which risked exposure along the way but was never uncovered, suggests a massive failure of Russian intelligence and a completely incompetent internal security system. Russia's backside has been heavily exposed to infiltration and intelligence operations managed by Ukraine. While it has caught a number of relatively small fish, important government buildings, apartment blocks, theaters and military bases, along with frequent assassinations of Ukraine's military and political enemies, have been targeted and hardly been challenged. Conversely, Russia has been unable to threaten Ukraine in a parallel manner, relying on missile and drone strikes to 'retaliate.' Even intelligence on Putin's secret visit to Kursk was leaked to Ukraine, resulting in an attack on Putin's helicopter that came close to shooting it down. There are rumors that Putin is shaking up the FSB, Russia's successor to the KGB. It is impossible to determine whether this will improve Russia's internal security. There appears to be at least good circumstantial evidence that critical Russian civil and military institutions are infiltrated either by paid spies or by anti-Putin and anti-war factions. Russia's current troubles are, at least in part, not only a result of good Ukrainian intelligence operations, but also of years of effort by Western spy agencies, especially the UK's MI-6, to try and destabilize Russia and bring down the Putin regime. But there is even more. Trying to knock out strategic nuclear facilities, flirting even with a nuclear attack, is not very much in Ukraine's interest, as Ukraine would be the first victim of a fierce Russian reaction. Such an attack is, however, consistent with what appears to be the NATO program to destabilize the Russian government and kill Putin. In addition, and even more profoundly, the British and their European partners – the EU, France and Germany – are deeply concerned that the US is removing itself from the Ukraine war and possibly even pulling US troops out of NATO, at least some to start. The Europeans know that this exposes them to an angry and dangerous Russia, so it is in their interest to try and push the US back into its traditional role of Europe's protector. Of course, this conflicts with rising US concern about China and its growing military capability that threatens US interests much more directly than anything that can be conjured up on behalf of NATO expansion in Ukraine. If this assessment is right, US President Donald Trump is being worked over, and the air base and other attacks deep inside Russia are intended to grow the threat to Europe and Ukraine – and do so urgently. The above assessment is also consistent with other collateral information. The negotiations now underway again in Istanbul appear to have generated a split between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his defense minister, Rustem Umarov. Reports say that Umarov wants to find a way to make the Istanbul negotiations work while Zelensky is making every effort to scuttle them. Despite the latest attacks inside Russia, the Russians also appear to still want to try and see if progress can be made. In the previous round of negotiations, when the Russians launched heavy missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, President Trump complained bitterly about Putin, suggesting he had gone 'crazy.' This time, Trump is completely silent about the latest Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory. Was Trump caught by surprise? Did he have prior notice, and if he did, why did he agree? Axios initially reported that Trump was briefed ahead of time, but then hastily changed the story to reflect pushback from the US administration, stating that they did not know. One wonders where Axios got the original information, although it takes little guesswork that it came from some friendly foreign intelligence sources. The bottom line is that the Trump administration was caught by surprise and, in fact, does not know what to do right now. Perhaps that is because these reckless attacks were aimed more at Washington than Moscow. Stephen Bryen is a special correspondent to Asia Times and former US deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. This article, which originally appeared on his Substack newsletter Weapons and Strategy, is republished with permission.
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Business Standard
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
Explosions caused 2 bridges in Russia to collapse, 7 killed: Officials
Explosions caused two bridges to collapse and derailed two trains in western Russia overnight, officials said Sunday, without saying what had caused the blasts. In one of the incidents, seven people were killed, and dozens were injured. The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing casualties. The train's driver was among those killed, state-run Russian Railways said. Hours later, officials said a second train derailed when the bridge beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine. In that collapse, a freight train was thrown off its rails onto the road below as the explosion collapsed the bridge, local acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said Sunday. The crash sparked a fire, but there were no casualties, he said. Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said in a statement that explosions had caused the two bridges to collapse but did not give further details. Several hours later, it edited the statement, which was posted on social media, to remove the words "explosions" but did not provide an explanation. The committee said that it would be investigating the incidents as potential acts of terrorism. Rescue workers cleared debris from both sites, while some of those injured were transported to Moscow for treatment. Photos posted by government agencies in Bryansk appeared to show train carriages ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge. Other footage on social media was apparently taken from inside vehicles on the road that had managed to avoid driving onto the bridge before it collapsed. Bryansk regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz announced three days of mourning for the victims, starting Monday. Damage to railway tracks was also found Sunday by inspectors working on the line elsewhere in the Bryansk region, Moscow Railway said in a statement. It did not say whether the damage was linked to the collapsed bridges. In the past, some officials have accused pro-Ukrainian saboteurs of attacking Russia's railway infrastructure. The details surrounding such incidents, however, are limited and cannot be independently verified. Ukraine's military intelligence, known by the Ukrainian abbreviation GUR, said Sunday that a Russian military freight train carrying food and fuel had been blown up on its way to Crimea. It did not claim the attack was carried out by GUR or mention the bridge collapses. The statement said Moscow's key artery with the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea has been destroyed. Russia forces have been pushing into the region of Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine since Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia took Crimea and annexed it in 2014.
North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Seven dead as two bridges in Russia collapse after explosions
In one of the incidents, seven people were killed and dozens were injured. The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing the casualties. Hours later, officials said a second train was derailed when the bridge beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine. In that collapse, a freight train was thrown off its rails on to the road below as the explosion collapsed the bridge, acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said on Sunday. The crash sparked a fire, but there were no casualties, he said. Russia's investigative committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said in a statement that explosions had caused the two bridges to collapse, but did not give further details. Photos posted by government agencies from the scene in the Bryansk region appeared to show train carriages ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge. Other footage on social media were apparently taken from inside vehicles on the road, which had managed to avoid driving on to the bridge before it collapsed. In the past, some officials have accused pro-Ukrainian saboteurs of attacking Russia's railway infrastructure. The details surrounding such incidents, however, are limited and cannot be independently verified. In a statement on Sunday, Ukraine's military intelligence, known by the Ukrainian abbreviation GUR, said a Russian military freight train carrying food and fuel had been blown up on its way to Crimea. It did not claim the attack was carried out by GUR or mention the bridge collapses. The statement said Moscow's key 'artery' with the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea has been destroyed. Russian forces have been pushing into the region of Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine since Moscow's invasion in February 2022. They took Crimea and annexed it in 2014.
Belfast Telegraph
a day ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Seven dead as two bridges in Russia collapse after explosions
In one of the incidents, seven people were killed and dozens were injured. The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing the casualties. Hours later, officials said a second train was derailed when the bridge beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine. In that collapse, a freight train was thrown off its rails on to the road below as the explosion collapsed the bridge, acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said on Sunday. The crash sparked a fire, but there were no casualties, he said. Russia's investigative committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said in a statement that explosions had caused the two bridges to collapse, but did not give further details. Photos posted by government agencies from the scene in the Bryansk region appeared to show train carriages ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge. Other footage on social media were apparently taken from inside vehicles on the road, which had managed to avoid driving on to the bridge before it collapsed. In the past, some officials have accused pro-Ukrainian saboteurs of attacking Russia's railway infrastructure. The details surrounding such incidents, however, are limited and cannot be independently verified. In a statement on Sunday, Ukraine's military intelligence, known by the Ukrainian abbreviation GUR, said a Russian military freight train carrying food and fuel had been blown up on its way to Crimea. It did not claim the attack was carried out by GUR or mention the bridge collapses. The statement said Moscow's key 'artery' with the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea has been destroyed. Russian forces have been pushing into the region of Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine since Moscow's invasion in February 2022. They took Crimea and annexed it in 2014.
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Seven dead as two bridges in Russia collapse after explosions
In one of the incidents, seven people were killed and dozens were injured. The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing the casualties. Hours later, officials said a second train was derailed when the bridge beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine. Rescue workers at a damaged bridge in Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine (Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor's Office telegram channel/AP) In that collapse, a freight train was thrown off its rails on to the road below as the explosion collapsed the bridge, acting governor Alexander Khinshtein said on Sunday. The crash sparked a fire, but there were no casualties, he said. Russia's investigative committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said in a statement that explosions had caused the two bridges to collapse, but did not give further details. Photos posted by government agencies from the scene in the Bryansk region appeared to show train carriages ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge. Other footage on social media were apparently taken from inside vehicles on the road, which had managed to avoid driving on to the bridge before it collapsed. Seven people were killed when the bridge collapsed (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service telegram channel/AP) In the past, some officials have accused pro-Ukrainian saboteurs of attacking Russia's railway infrastructure. The details surrounding such incidents, however, are limited and cannot be independently verified. In a statement on Sunday, Ukraine's military intelligence, known by the Ukrainian abbreviation GUR, said a Russian military freight train carrying food and fuel had been blown up on its way to Crimea. It did not claim the attack was carried out by GUR or mention the bridge collapses. The statement said Moscow's key 'artery' with the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea has been destroyed. Russian forces have been pushing into the region of Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine since Moscow's invasion in February 2022. They took Crimea and annexed it in 2014.
