Attack on Kyiv: what are Putin's objectives?
After Russia issued a warning to foreign diplomats, telling them to leave the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha has urged the Western partners not to yield to "Russian threats". Late on Saturday night Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack on the greater Kyiv area. Commentators, however, see the strikes as a sign of the Kremlin's weakness.
Rushing in without a plan
Putin's course of action smacks of nervousness, observes columnist Pierre Haski in France Inter:
“Will Vladimir Putin, through this escalation and his rhetoric, be able to convince the Russian population that this war, which has now entered its fifth year, truly justifies the thousands of deaths, the economic sacrifices and now the destruction by Ukrainian drones? The Russian president is charging ahead on a course that will change neither the balance of power nor the fundamentals of the conflict. The real question is whether, if his failures continue to pile up, he will be tempted to cross red lines and expand the conflict. At the moment his threats speak mostly of his own nervousness.”
The West no longer believes the threats
Political scientist Viktor Taran observes on Facebook that the West now has more confidence in Ukraine's strength:
“The situation is the exact opposite of what it was on the eve of Russia's large-scale invasion in February 2022. Back then, Western diplomatic missions left Kyiv en masse. Now, nothing remotely similar is happening. And that may be the most important indicator of how the world's perception of Ukraine has changed. In 2022, the West feared that Kyiv would fall. In 2026, the West no longer believes Russia's threats. The Kremlin has effectively lost one of its main instruments for exerting psychological pressure.”
Moscow testing its weapons
Russia is deliberately using strikes to improve its missiles, writes military analyst Olexii Kopytko on 24tv.ua:
“The Russians have already deployed medium-range ballistic missiles three times in combat conditions against real air defence systems. Such operations help them to improve their missiles. The Russians are training their ability to penetrate multi-layered air and missile defence technology, including early warning systems (American and European), ground-based air defence systems, aircraft, interceptor drones and electronic warfare capabilities. ... They are also practising the coordination of combined attacks using drones and missiles launched from the sea, from various ground-based platforms, and by tactical and strategic air forces.”
Kremlin leader losing face
In a Telegram post picked up by Echo, political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov sees the mood in Russian society shifting in the face of a seemingly endless war:
“The fact that the war against Ukraine is lasting longer than the USSR's war against Germany is triggering massive cognitive dissonance in the minds of ordinary citizens. ... The war, which was supposed to restore the average citizen's sense of imperial grandeur and pride, has instead given rise to frustration over the fact that a 'restored' Russia has been unable to make any progress against Ukraine, a country that Putin's propaganda had dismissed as an insignificant failed state. All this is contributing to a vague and so far barely perceptible rejection of Putin.”
Kremlin pinning last hope on Trump
Writing on Facebook, sociologist Igor Eidman sees the threat of more attacks as a sign of Russian despondency:
“It is finally clear that the Kremlin is not trying to intimidate the Ukrainians (they refuse to be intimidated – it's not as if Kyiv has not been shelled before), but Trump. As if to say, 'We're going to blast them really hard now so that your failure as a 'peacemaker' becomes glaringly obvious'. The idiots hope that Trump can force Zelensky to surrender. This is Russia's last chance. Otherwise the war will have to end. Because the tide has turned on the front – in favour of the Ukrainians, who at this stage are liberating more territory than they are losing. When it comes to the economy and the mood among the Russian people, the situation looks pretty bleak for Putin.”
Hardly a "monstrous attack" on the capital
The Aargauer Zeitung caps the hyperbole on Sunday's attack, especially as regards the use of the expensive Oreshnik missile:
“The Russians did not fire this relatively new intermediate-range missile at Kyiv, but at Bila Tserkva, a city about 80 km from Kyiv. ... As the nighttime video footage shows, the cluster munitions were not equipped with explosive warheads. So this was more of a symbolic attack, which was quickly criticised by Russian military bloggers. An Oreshnik probably costs more than 20 million Swiss francs [22 million euros]. ... For a 'monstrous attack' the death toll was relatively low, with four dead and just under 90 wounded in the greater Kyiv area.”
Europe must finally wake up
The taz criticises Europe's sluggish response:
“The European summer of 2026 not only threatens to be a scorcher; the heat is already on. It's becoming increasingly obvious that Europe's handling of the war in Ukraine is lacking on all fronts: too hesitant in seeing what is required militarily, too slow in delivering on financial commitments, too US fixated in matters of diplomacy. ... The war will be decided with weapons, not on the slippery slope that Trump is using as a negotiating table. Ukraine knows the score. The Europeans will only notice when it is too late and the war hits them directly.”