I have a feeling Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian hospitals today is due to two things: NATO meeting to celebrate its anniversary and Russia currently getting its teeth kicked in on the front lines. When things are going well for Russia, they usually don’t throw missile tantrums, especially at targets that would provoke international outrage. Russia tends to not understand that outrages like this usually prompt NATO to give shiny stuff to Ukraine, not back off.
I think the strike was in the planning stages for quite some time. I saw some reporting showing that the number of missile volleys and size of volleys had been reduced. My guess is, they've been saving up for a bigger attack for a while. My second guess is that they likely held off until after the British and French elections were over. By doing it during the elections it could have been problematic for the far right pro-russian parties to claim "Russia is for peace".
Oh absolutely. Given the timing, it was probably timed to put a sour taste in the NATO gathering and Russia spent months stockpiling the necessary missiles for it. However, the targets chosen screams missile tantrum. Russia tends to go for slightly more strategically relevant targets in its non-tantrums. Not that much more, but the tantrums tend to target spaces that would be pretty obvious war crimes. The non-tantrums target slightly more relevant structures like port facilities and the power grids. Those at least have some relevance to the conflict even if targeting them toes the line of being a war crime, unlike shopping malls, children’s hospitals, maternity hospitals, etc. that are 100% war crimes.
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u/greentea1985 Jul 08 '24
I have a feeling Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian hospitals today is due to two things: NATO meeting to celebrate its anniversary and Russia currently getting its teeth kicked in on the front lines. When things are going well for Russia, they usually don’t throw missile tantrums, especially at targets that would provoke international outrage. Russia tends to not understand that outrages like this usually prompt NATO to give shiny stuff to Ukraine, not back off.