Russia Launches Largest Aerial Assault on Ukraine Since War Began, Expert Warns of Stalemate Ahead
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Russia launched the largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, striking government buildings in Kyiv for the first time and intensifying pressure on cities as ground forces push through the Donbas region, military experts told Sky News NewsDay.
President Donald Trump warned of further sanctions against Moscow ahead of an expected call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We’re going to get it done. The Russia-Ukraine situation, we’re going to get it done,” Trump said.
Rob Potter, founding partner of the Cyber Activities Group and co-founder of Internet2, said Russia has deployed roughly 100,000 soldiers to the Donbas in a final offensive before winter conditions stall armored movements.
“The first batch of them started their assaults yesterday with a large armored attack on the town of Pokrovsk,” Potter said. “They’re trying to cut that city off. It’s been a frontline city for over a year, and the initial parts of the Russian attack were stopped pretty much in their tracks, quite literally, by Ukrainian drones.”
Record Drone Strikes on Kyiv
Putin has increased long-range drone strikes as ground troops failed to seize major territory, Potter said. Ukraine’s parliament was hit overnight in one of the record waves of attacks.
“They’re hitting roughly 900 to 1,000 launches a night, aiming to get to around about 1,500 by the end of the year,” Potter said. “That’s well over 100% increase on what they were able to do a year ago.”
Despite Ukraine’s strong air defenses, more drones are slipping through. “Over 90% of the drones were shot down,” Potter said. “They’re not at the point where they’re being completely overwhelmed, although more are going to get through.”
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European Support Rising
European countries are rapidly scaling up artillery production to sustain Ukraine’s defenses.
“The Europeans are really starting to come through on their production targets, hitting one and two million shells a year, really scaling up production in Germany and in the Nordics,” Potter said. “In some areas of the front line, they’ve got artillery dominance, and a lot of that is attributable to the fact that the Europeans have really stepped up.”
The increased production could also ease shortages in Australia and the United States. “If we think we’re short of shells fighting Russia, we should see what happens with China,” Potter said.
Outlook on Peace
Potter said any peace talks remain unlikely in the short term. “Talk of a grand bargain is premature until there’s real pressure on the Russian economy,” he said. Russia has resources to sustain its military campaign for at least another 18 months.
“Putin feels pretty confident that he can get the same deal in a year that he can get today and that things might change for the better for him in that intervening period,” Potter said. “Until the United States really puts him under pressure and until those long-promised sanctions by President Trump start really coming through, it’s going to be in Putin’s interest to continue fighting it out.”
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