In Russia, opinions differ on how to respond to Ukraine’s attack on Russian airfields

In Russia, opinions are divided on how to respond to the Ukrainian attacks on airfields. Some are calling for a “harsh response.”

For instance, Dmitry Smirnov, a Kremlin pool journalist (administrator of the Telegram channel “Pool 3”), asked in his post:

“What would Israel do if its enemy struck at its strategic forces, upon which the very existence of the state depends? Would Zelensky be running around the planet for long? Would the city of Kyiv still stand, or after a strike on airfields with strategic bombers, would the Israeli TASS announce: ‘All those who wish to leave this beautiful city have 24 hours, after which the ‘white swans’ will pay a return visit’?
Would Israel, which leveled Gaza after October 7, spare Kyiv, and if so, why? Would the so-called Western allies get an ultimatum that anyone who sends even a single bullet to the Ukrainian Armed Forces should pray and only blame themselves and the pathetic ‘Patriot’ that tries to cover their capital from the ‘Hazelnut’?” wrote Smirnov.

He believes that:

“Russia’s colossal mistake is that we constantly want to look good in someone else’s eyes, while our enemies blow up generals, trains, and attack part of the nuclear triad. What’s the response? The whole world already brands Russia as hellspawn — it’s high time to justify that image at least a little; it can’t get any worse.”

At the same time, Russian political analyst Alexey Chadayev thinks the importance of these events is exaggerated:

“Unlike many commentators, I don’t see any particularly significant events today. This might sound radical or premature, but in the three-to-five-year perspective, there’s no future for manned military aviation, including strategic aviation — drones will kill it. It’s now just a matter of time. AI will soon be able to control devices of any size and altitude, performing maneuvers impossible for a ‘biological’ pilot and at speeds unimaginable to them. These won’t be toys from containers, but drone-fighters at hypersonic speeds. And the same applies to the navy, no matter how big it is.”

Chadayev also notes that:

“In our strange war, where the opponent’s principle is not so much who defeats or kills whom, but who humiliates whom the most publicly, this is certainly a catastrophe. The worst part is that we play along and accept these rules. But we shouldn’t.”

Recall that President Zelensky said the command center for the operation to attack Russian bombers was located on Russian territory.

Previously, the neural network ChatGPT offered its own forecast about how Russia might respond to the Ukrainian strikes on strategic aviation airfields.