Thread by @egavactip

I'm curious if the Russians are doing this because they don't have anything else that seems feasible right now, or if there's a strategy behind it. If they think that by doing this they might cause Ukrainian morale to collapse and sue for peace on disadvantageous terms, history

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1504668964198174728

suggests that civilian bombing campaigns (and let's throw artillery and missiles in there) don't often have that effect. British morale did not suffer because of the blitz, nor did the British "de-housing" night bombings of Germany cause German morale to plummet. During the

VIetnam War, the U.S. bombed the heck out of North Vietnam--without significantly affecting North Vietnamese resolve. I'm leaving out some historical exceptions and caveats, but given Ukraine's morale so far, it doesn't seem likely to succeed (again, if that is the intention).

Meanwhile, that sort of destruction is likely to make Russia seem ever more a pariah, with no corresponding military advantage. A rubbled Kiev is not really any less defensible than an intact Kiev.