The war in Ukraine is in a new phase with Putin’s “revenge” – The G7 is meeting today

By Athena Papakosta

The discussion of the last days on the occasion the explosion – on the 2014 annexed Crimea – bridge it was about how Russian President Vladimir Putin would respond. And now, we know. Moscow is targeting Kiev again and Russian bombings are being recorded against political targets in western Ukraine as well. Putin takes revenge and the war in the country enters a new phase.

The Russian president called the explosion on the Crimean bridge a “terrorist act” on the part of Kiev and said that Moscow carried out missile attacks against Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure. He now seems to have taken the war (more) personally and makes it clear that: “if attempts to carry out terrorist attacks on our soil continue, Russia’s responses will be harsh”. At the same time, for the vice president of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev “the first episode has been played” to add that “there will be more”.

The new dangerous escalation of the war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing for eight months, occurs at a time when:

First: Ukrainian forces are pushing east and south while Russian troops are taking casualties on the battlefield.

Secondly: The Russian president has proceeded with a partial mobilization to reinforce the Russian troops while he has announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions to the Russian Federation (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson)

Thirdly: There has been an explosion on the bridge – the pride of Moscow that connects Crimea, annexed since 2014, with Russia.

The Ukrainian side may not have taken responsibility for the strike on the Crimean bridge that received Putin’s image, however, for Kiev, Crimea was a “legitimate” strategic target. His own adviser Volodymyr Zelensky, Mihajlo Podoliak, a few hours after the explosion last Saturday he wrote on Twitter: “The explosion on the bridge was just the beginning. Anything illegal must be destroyed, anything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, any possession of Russia must be eliminated.” There were previous strikes on the peninsula and last August against the “Saki” airbase on the western coast of Crimea as well as an ammunition depot at the Russian “Jiankoi” base in the northern part of the peninsula.

Putin’s prestige

This time, however, Moscow reacted more strongly. The explosion on the bridge – the pride of Moscow – was also a psychological blow for Putin. However, this barrage of missile attacks against Ukraine is not just his revenge against Kiev. It is also a response of the Russian president to his critics inside Russia. It is a way of telling them that this “special military operation” has not failed.

On the occasion of the explosion, the occupant of the Kremlin had already managed to appoint a new commander of troops in Ukraine. This is Sergei Surovikin, head of the Russian air force since 2017 and a veteran of Russian military operations in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria, who according to the British Ministry of Defense has a reputation as a corrupt and brutal general. “I am not surprised by what I see happening in Kiev this morning. Surovikin is absolutely ruthless (…) I am afraid that his hands will be completely covered with the blood of Ukrainians”, a former official of the Ministry of Defense told the British Guardian yesterday.

The involvement of Belarus

By Putin’s side on the battlefield now officially stands his last ally on European soil. The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, complains that his country is threatened with attacks from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. Moscow and Minsk agree to the organization and deployment of a joint military regional force and this marks the official involvement of the Belarusian military in the war.

The G7 meeting

Fears of a generalized conflict are reawakening. The seven leaders of the world’s most advanced countries will meet today, as an emergency, via video conference at 3:00 p.m., Greek time, to discuss the new data that bring a new escalation to the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, will also participate in the talks. The West is vowing to stand by Kiev by continuing to arm and finance it at a time when neither side seems willing to back down and no one has successfully played the role of mediator.

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