The military announced on Monday that Russia launched ballistic missiles from Russian territory. These missiles were launched at the Yavoriv army training site in western Ukraine, close to the Polish frontier.
Russia Can’t Hide the Truth
“This was obviously a Russian assault,” military communications director John Kirby said.
“These were cruise missiles launched from a long-range bomber on the Yavoriv training complex in western Ukraine, according to our information.”
“Those air-launch missile systems were fired from long-range aircraft,” a Pentagon official told Air Force Magazine. “Russian long-range warplanes are operating from Russian territory, not Ukrainian airspace.”
“Russia is thought to conduct 200 sorties each day, whereas Ukraine flies five to ten flights in skies entirely blanketed by Russian surface-to-air missile capability,” according to Air Force Magazine.
The pale pregnant woman photographed after a Russian missile strike on a hospital in Mariupol last week was a grim symbol of Russia’s intensifying campaign in Ukraine.
The woman and her baby have since died, The Associated Press said on Monday.https://t.co/rCbGPxeaEs
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 14, 2022
The cruise missile attacks, according to the Pentagon, demonstrated the ineffectiveness of a no-fly area if the West choose to impose one over Ukraine.
“My main concern is when the Russians determine they have to cut off the ground line of contact,” a defense official told Air Force Magazine.
The supply lines from Poland to Ukraine, or any other country to Ukraine.
How often does Moscow consider the sanctions and military assistance to the Ukrainians to be aggressive enough to retaliate?
Russia is Pushing the Boundaries
“To go back to these strikes on the Yavoriv,” a journalist began questioning Kirby.
“Did you see that as a watershed moment in the war, the fact that they are beginning to strike in the West. Or do you see it as merely a message to the west that we can do as we please?”
A ballistic missile strike on Donetsk, the capital of the breakaway, Russia-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, killed an estimated 20 people and wounded 35 on Monday, according to the regional health minister. https://t.co/diV76zjUY2
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) March 14, 2022
“I don’t believe we would call these a signal,” Kirby responded. “I mean, they use many cruise missiles here,” says the narrator.
“Clearly, they had a rationale for focusing on that particular training center. It’s also a Ukrainian military training facility. I’ll defer to them on their targeted rationales.”
“I don’t believe we should regard this or any other strike in western Ukraine as a watershed moment. The Russians are certainly broadening their target groupings.”
“That much is clear from the fact other sites in Ukraine have been attacked in the last several days. I believe our common impression is they are still upset by strong Ukrainian opposition.”
“You often assert that Russia does not even have air supremacy,” another reporter said.
“If Moscow is flying 200 Sorties per day while Ukraine is only flying five to ten, Ukraine will be unable to fly its fighter planes due to Russia’s full SAM coverage. How is that not Russian air supremacy?”
“We will continue to believe that Russia lacks air dominance over Ukraine and also believe that the Ukrainian people are capable of defending their territory.”
