(MOSCOW) – Russian state television pundits have expressed significant anxiety about the coming summer months, acknowledging Ukrainian superiority in drone warfare and information operations while warning of intensified pressure on Russian forces in occupied Crimea.
During the programme “The Meeting Place,” host Andrey Norkin and his panel, including journalist Maxim Yusin and military expert Andrey Klintsevich, discussed the strategic challenges facing Russia.
The discussion centred on a missile threat that panellists said was unlikely to materialise in the immediate future, given that budget allocations for missile production are scheduled only for the next financial year. Mr Yusin remarked that Russia must first “survive until next year,” adding that the situation would be decided in the coming months.
The panel expressed greater concern over Ukrainian drone capabilities, with Mr Yusin conceding that Kyiv’s forces had “pulled ahead” in this domain for a period. He predicted that a technological solution to counter the drone threat would be found by September but warned that the intervening months would constitute a “heavy nervous summer” that Russians must endure. He described the psychological pressure as significant, stating that Ukraine had mastered information warfare and was “outplaying” Russia.
Mr Yusin said Ukrainian forces would apply pressure on Crimea and the southern grouping of Russian troops. He contrasted the information environment in Russia with that in Ukraine, noting that acquaintances in Kyiv had described the reality of strikes on the capital as “tens of times more terrible and dramatic” than anything depicted in Russian media.
He observed that Ukraine had effectively managed to control the dissemination of images from strike sites in Moscow, creating what he called a sense of nervousness and psychological superiority.
The panellists suggested that Ukraine’s strategy was to establish this psychological dominance over the summer and then push for negotiations, operating on the premise that “Russia fears summer” while “Ukraine fears winter.” However, Mr Yusin argued that Ukrainian planners did not fully understand Russian resolve.
The discussion then turned to European military developments. Mr Klintsevich noted that at the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Europe, three French companies had united to present a new concept for ballistic missiles.
He explained that European nations had historically not required long range ballistic capabilities because the United States provided that coverage under existing agreements. With those arrangements now in question, he said, European industry was moving to fill the gap.
Mr Klintsevich warned that these new missiles, with ranges of up to 1,000 kilometres, would eventually be tested and deployed against Russian targets. He used an analogy to illustrate the difference in destructive power, comparing the impact of a walnut thrown at a car windscreen to that of a coconut.
He noted that a missile delivering a one tonne payload represented a far more serious threat than a drone carrying only 50 kilogrammes, which he argued could not destroy major engineering structures such as bridges. However, he acknowledged that the cumulative effect of multiple drone strikes remained a concern.
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