Putin's bombers could devastate #Ukraine but he's holding back. Here's why newsweek.com/putins-bombers… h/t @snarwani
"#Russia's conduct in the brutal war tells a different story than the widely accepted view that Vladimir #Putin is intent on demolishing #Ukraine and inflicting maximum civilian damage—and it reveals the Russian leader's strategic balancing act."
"the damage associated with a contested ground war involving peer opponents shouldn't blind people to what is really happening: "The heart of Kyiv has barely been touched. And almost all of the long-range strikes have been aimed at military targets" #Ukraine
"in 24 days of conflict, #Russia has flown 1,400 strike sorties and delivered 1,000 missiles (by contrast, the #US flew more sorties & delivered more weapons in the 1st day of the 2003 Iraq war)...providing "close air support" to ground forces...(and aiming) at military (sites)"
"it's hard to swallow that the carnage and destruction could be much worse," says DIA analyst. "But...This suggests to me, at least, that Putin is not intentionally attacking civilians, perhaps he is mindful that he needs to limit damage in order to leave an out for negotiations"
"the Russian air force (is) subordinate to the ground forces. And this war is different: it's being fought on the ground, where everything strategic that #Russia might destroy in front of its forces...also becomes unusable to them as they move forward."
"I know that the news keeps repeating that #Putin is targeting civilians, but there is no evidence that #Russia is intentionally doing so," says the DIA analyst. "In fact, I'd say that Russian could be killing thousands more civilians if it wanted to."
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
