Ukraine will respond in kind if Russia continues its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Experts aren’t sure if it’s a good idea.

Vladimir Putin’s bombs darkened Ukraine last winter. Now Ukraine says it will reciprocate if Russia does the same this year.

The Russians have systematically bombed infrastructure in Ukraine.

No electricity, no heat, no water. At the same time negative scores came. It has been a harsh winter for many Ukrainians.

– Russia will focus on energy supplies to Ukraine this winter. But we will respond, says new Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustam Umarov To CNN.

Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung He writes that Ukraine has indicated it will attack Russian arms production and infrastructure.

• Last winter, Moscow tried to bring Ukraine to its knees by systematically bombing electricity supplies and other infrastructure such as heating, gas, water and telephone.
• Recent times indicate that Russia intends to use the same strategy this winter.
• Ukraine says it will respond in kind if the Russians continue this tactic Kyiv Post.
• Kiev confirms that it has already attacked the electricity grid in the Kursk region with drones. Ukraine previously attacked the Kerch Bridge, which connects the Crimean Peninsula to Russia.

-Ukraine now has drones it can use. They didn’t have that last winter, war researcher Ilmari Kaikko at Finland’s Aleksantiri Institute tells VG.

– Now they will respond in the same way if Russia continues to attack Ukrainian infrastructure.

– what does that mean?

– The situation may change when there are Russian civilian casualties. We don’t know that yet. But if Ukraine launches large-scale attacks against Russian infrastructure, Russia will almost certainly do the same. The Russians have bombed civilian targets since the beginning of the war.

– Can they use weapons that came from the West?

– There are restrictions on how weapons and ammunition coming from the West can be used. Perhaps they could use it in attacks against Crimea, since it is Ukrainian territory, but not inside mainland Russia. As for the Crimean Bridge, I am not sure whether it is acceptable or not, says Ilmari Kehko.

Peter Viggo Jacobsen, of the Danish Defense Academy, explained that Ukraine cannot use weapons it received from the West against targets inside Russia:

Ukraine’s ability to attack Russia’s infrastructure is limited. The United States will not support such attacks with Western-made weapons. “So I find it difficult to see that it will be of decisive importance,” says the expert.

It will also anger the Chinese and make it difficult for Ukraine to present itself as a victim in the conflict outside the Western world, Jacobsen continues.

– Why?

– Here, many will take it as a sign that Ukraine is no better than the Russians, because they also attack civilian targets. Therefore, in my view, it would be a strategic mistake, because the military gain is less than the costs to Ukraine’s reputation and Ukraine’s efforts to gain sympathy outside NATO, not least in India, China and Russia. Brazil – that is, major BRICSBRICSBrazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.– the countries.

Note: President Joe Biden says the United States will not turn its back on Ukraine despite the fact that Congress adopted a temporary budget in which additional support for Ukraine was eliminated.