The drone wars continue … relentlessly and unabated. Apparently between May 22 and May 23, a drone(s) blasted and significantly damaged one of Russia’s major strategic early warning radar systems(the Armavir) based in Krasnodar Krai in Southwestern Russia. According to James Acton, Nuclear Policy Analyst at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace(posting on X):
The Armavir radar is part of Russia's "strategic" early warning system. It is designed to detect an incoming nuclear strike and enable Russia to launch its nuclear forces before they are destroyed.
The folks at The Warzone also have a write-up on this, with the worry that this could escalate the war in Ukraine to another level and that it could hurt Ukraine’s case with the U.S. allowing use of its munitions to strike targets in Russia.
www.twz.com/...
Personally, I think this is a major calculation on Ukraine’s part … calling out Putin on his serial nuclear threats and letting the Western powers know Putin will not cross the reddest of all lines … the nuclear option. It also shows that Russia is truly now in a place where it cannot defend even the most precious of its military assets … its nuclear arsenal. Ukraine has now pulled away the covers. We’re in completely new and uncharted waters now.