Voice of Ukraine

From Jamie Peipon: In the picture above, you can see what woke up my friends in Kyiv this morning. That is an Iranian Shahed kamikaze drone. Ukrainians sometimes refer to them as “mopeds” because of the annoying buzzing sound they make as they fly. This is the latest tool in russia’s arsenal to terrorize Ukraine. It hit a building in Kyiv with a huge explosion. Military personnel and police officers in the streets were actually trying to shoot it down with their rifles. Among those killed this morning were a husband and his pregnant wife. Many of these drones are being intercepted in the Ukrainian skies by air defense systems and even by Ukrainian jets. Since the Crimean bridge was damaged, russia seems to have changed their strategy. Rather than seeking any battlefield advantage (which is an advantage they are not able to gain) they are just shifting to terror. This whole war has been largely about terror, but there currently is less of an effort to actually use their weapons in order to gain any advantage on the ground.

Over the past week or so, russia has been building up troops again in Belarus. Some analysts are predicting a renewed push on Kyiv. It would be somewhat surprising for them to open a new front on which they already failed previously and while they are failing in the existing fronts. In addition, there have been videos released of Belarus sending some of their tanks further east to russia. It is an odd combination to be gathering troops in one place and sending equipment to another. US intelligence has said that they don’t yet see any indications that there will be another attack on Kyiv. I tend to trust that report because US intelligence was the only group right about what was brewing before February 24th. Of course, that could change, but it seems more likely at this point that they are positioning troops there in order to “pin down” some Ukrainian forces around Kyiv so that they can’t go and support the eastern or southern fronts.

There has been some recent chatter from russian sources about increased Ukrainian activity near Kherson. Ukrainian forces have asked for radio silence. This has been the same pattern we’ve seen before each of the previous maneuvers that has recovered significant territory. There’s a lot of hope that there will be some fresh good news on one of these fronts soon.

Meanwhile, it is important to remember that russia does not intend to limit its activity to Ukraine. I’ve written before about how russia always sees itself at war. Most Americans would probably still say today that we are not at war with russia. But russians just don’t see the world that way and would often describe themselves in conflict with the west. Here’s an example: Just this week, there have been two arrests of russians in Norway. One was arrested at the border with a couple of drones, photographic equipment, and hours of video and pictures. Norway has been on “heightened alert” as there have been several sightings of drones around their energy-related infrastructure. Another russian was arrested for pictures of a military helicopter and airports. There is no doubt that they will continue to use every means possible to find ways to disrupt things in the west.

“Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.”