The contrast between Ukraine’s drive to defend its national sovereignty and the brutal methods used by Moscow in its invasion aimed at conquering Ukraine, could not be starker. Moscow is escalating its missile attacks targeting civilians in Ukrainian cities while Kyiv’s airstrikes target Moscow’s military forces and infrastructure deep inside Russia and occupied Crimea.
Unable to overcome Ukrainian resistance on the front line, Moscow launched a record number of missiles at Ukrainian cities in July. Residential buildings have been targeted and more than half of the country’s electrical generating capacity destroyed, damaged or occupied.
Because of the different kinds of war being waged, of the more than 16,000 civilians killed to date, the vast majority are Ukrainian. But the slaughter has failed to force Ukrainian working people into submission.
Moscow’s drone operators are trying to spread fear in Ukrainian cities near the front lines this year by tripling the use of small maneuverable drones that hunt down civilians in the streets. An Aug. 5 video shows a drone chasing and wounding a vegetable seller in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.
Zaporizhzhia, a city near the front in Ukraine’s southeast, has been a target for Russian drones since the invasion began. Kateryna Lahuta had her seafood business hit by two Russian bombs in July. “Even half a year ago it was still scary, of course, and there were strikes. But it wasn’t like this,” Lahuta told Reuters Aug. 6.
Ania Syvova, a 34-year-old seamstress whose husband is fighting in the war, sends her 6-year-old daughter to an underground kindergarten in Zaporizhzhia. “We’ve got used to this life,” she said. “For now, unfortunately, we don’t have another one.”
Moscow’s aerial barrages with slow-moving drones are mostly intercepted. But its glide bombs and supersonic ballistic missiles are a deadlier threat. In July 8,300 heavy glide bombs were launched from Russia, the highest monthly number so far. Ukrainian warning apps help ensure most people get to shelters in time.
Kyiv’s different strategy
In sharp contrast, Kyiv’s own long-range drones are striking strategic targets across Russia, from oil refineries to huge warehouses. Refinery output has been cut by a quarter, causing fuel shortages. Kyiv’s mid-range drones hamper supply routes in occupied parts of Ukraine and Crimea, as well as target Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea.
Moscow’s war economy is straining under soaring military spending, severe labor shortages and rising inflation.
In southeast Ukraine this year, Moscow’s army has lost about 70 square miles. Russian workers in uniform are used as cannon fodder in “meat grinder” assaults. In July, Kyiv’s drone defenses inflicted almost three-quarters of the 42,800 Russian casualties, the highest monthly toll yet.
Moscow’s total military casualties in its war of attrition are estimated at about 1.4 million, including some 450,000 killed. The Russian casualty rate at the front has surged to nearly eight times that of Ukraine’s.
Many of these losses are soldiers recruited from Russia’s prison population or disproportionately from among oppressed nationalities in the Russian Federation, like Muslim people in the south, as well as Central Asian or other immigrant workers who are lured or forced into Moscow’s army.
Moscow and St. Petersburg have been largely insulated from the war, with far fewer casualties there. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far avoided another mobilization like the one in 2022 that triggered mass anti-war protests in major cities.
But this year losses have outpaced recruitment, even after the Putin regime increased lucrative sign-up bonuses. A call-up of half a million reservists to reinforce Moscow’s army is likely after the September Duma elections. As the toll in human lives mounts and economic uncertainty for millions of workers rises, Putin is banking that his repressive forces will be able to quell resistance by working people at home.