Alexander Motyl
Russian President Putin. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, is in a pickle. And the Ukrainian Security Service put him there by launching a spectacular drone attack against several military airports and possibly destroying or damaging 41 planes.
Regardless of the tactical or strategic importance of the strikes and their implications for warfare, the Ukrainian attack is a personal and political embarrassment for Putin.
Putin’s Ukraine War Pandora’s Box He Can’t Close
On the one hand, the brazenness of the attack undermines Putin’s legitimacy as Russia’s omniscient and omnipotent leader.
Who, but an incompetent, would permit such a disaster to happen on his watch?
On the other hand, the attack underscores the rottenness of Putin’s political and military systems.
The Ukrainians smuggled in over 100 drones, placed them in trucks driven by Russians who appear not to have known what they were transporting, and directed the whole operation from a site near a local Russian Security Service headquarters.
Clearly, a vast array of Russian officials weren’t doing their jobs.
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