After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, it has been the Russian military to carry out special military operations in Ukraine, while Ukraine is passively defensive. As early as the beginning of the conflict, I wondered why Ukraine could not burn the war to Russia. Why have you been beaten passively? Until today this idea was realized by the Ukrainian army. On April 1, two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter gunships broke through the Russian air defense system and attacked an oil base in the Russian border city of Belgorod, officially burning the war on Russian soil.
The Belgorod oil facility attacked by ukrainian troops
It has been said online that the fifth round of Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine may make a major breakthrough, but being so engaged by Ukraine has added a lot of uncertainty to the signing of the peace agreement. So why did Ukraine attack oil bases on Russian soil at this time? This is a long-planned act by Ukraine for three reasons:
First, show the world Ukraine's power, so that the Western countries can see that Ukraine is far from being overthrown. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine, as a weak defensive side, suffered heavy losses under the special military operations of the Russian army, and large and medium-sized cities such as Kiev, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Nikolayev, Lviv, and Odessa suffered different degrees of damage, especially the Russian and Ukrainian sides launched a street battle in Mariupol, the entire city was almost turned into ruins, according to Ukraine's own estimates, Ukraine has lost more than 500 billion US dollars.
Mariupol
At the beginning of the Outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, most people thought that under the attack of the powerful Russian army, Ukraine would soon be fully occupied, but things did not go as everyone imagined, Ukraine carried out tenacious and effective resistance, the Progress of the Russian Army was very slow, the losses were very huge, so far it has not captured Kiev, Kharkov and other cities, and there are still insufficient troops, insufficient logistical support and other problems. In order to achieve the strategic objectives of special military operations as soon as possible, Russia will not hesitate to use precision-guided weapons such as hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles to strike at the arsenals and fuel depots of Ukraine's rear areas such as Lviv and Kiev, reduce Ukraine's resistance and will to resist, and force Ukraine to fully accept the conditions put forward by the Russian side.
Dagger hypersonic missile
Although the Western countries led by the United States are supporting Ukraine, the weapons of assistance are limited to anti-tank missiles, Stinger missiles, guns and other light weapons, while ukraine's appeal for heavy equipment such as air defense systems, tanks, armored vehicles, and fighter jets is not dared by any country under the deterrence of Russia. With the reduction of heavy weapons, the resistance of the Ukrainian army gradually weakened, and in the negotiations began to make concessions to Russia, and the international confidence in Ukraine was also weakening, at this time, if Ukraine could not prove its strength, it may be abandoned by the United States and other Western countries. At this time, the Ukrainian army attacked the Russian mainland by sending helicopter gunships, on the one hand, to show the international community that Ukraine is still far from being beaten down, and also has the ability to organize resistance, and even to strike at the Russian mainland; on the other hand, to show the Western countries Ukraine's determination and will to resist Russia, and will definitely not easily surrender to russia. Sure enough, after the Ukrainian army attacked Russia's Belgorod, Germany announced the supply of armored vehicles to Ukraine, which was the first time that Western countries had supplied heavy weapons to Ukraine.
Germany prepared armored vehicles for Ukraine
Second, to exert military pressure on Russia to further disperse the russian forces. Since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukraine has been in a passive defensive situation, and has never attacked the Russian mainland, allowing Russia to carry out military operations in Ukraine without any worries. In particular, the Russian mainland as the large rear of the Russian army is very safe, can be orderly to provide materials, weapons and other equipment for the Russian army, and the local air force can also enter Ukraine after taking off without any concerns, such as bombers such as Figure 160, the Russian army does not need to specially arrange troops to defend the mainland of important military facilities and civilian facilities, such as oil and gas pipelines.
Figure 160 strategic bomber
This would allow russia's limited forces to be concentrated in Ukraine, greatly increasing Ukraine's military pressure. In fact, the total number of the Russian army is not very large, only about 400,000 people, in addition to the border troops, the combat troops are about 300,000 people, and then in addition to the 1-year conscription, about 150,000 troops with combat effectiveness, basically invested in Ukraine, so that the strength is still a little stretched, but also from the Far East and other places to transfer troops, but also recruited Volunteers with combat experience in Syria. The announcement of 145,000 conscripts shows that Russia's land forces are very tense, and the Russian offensive is basically carried out through the army, and Ukraine is well aware of this.
Russian Army
Ukraine's attack on the Russian mainland has caused a crisis in the originally absolutely safe rear, completely disrupted Russia's military deployment, and forced Russia to devote a certain amount of energy and troops to defend important military facilities and civilian facilities on the mainland, further disperse Russia's military strength, and reduce Ukraine's military pressure. If Russia does not make arrangements, Ukraine may continue to attack targets on the Russian mainland through helicopter gunships, dot missiles, drones, etc., interfering with the russian rear supply and further increasing the difficulty of the Russian army's supply.
Russian lost supply vehicles
Third, sabotage Russian oil transportation and strike at the foundation of the Russian economy. The most important economic base of Russia is oil and gas, which is the main source of Foreign Exchange Earnings in Russia. In 2021, Russia earned $125 billion through natural oil exports, accounting for about 9% of the annual GDP. A large part of Russian oil and gas is transported to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines, and there are many oil and gas facilities in and around Ukraine, which have a great impact on the transportation of oil and gas in Russia. At the same time, after the current cessation of the Nord Stream project, Ukraine's oil and gas pipelines will be even more important. The main purpose of Ukraine's choice to strike the Belgorod oil facilities this time is to warn Russia, first, Ukraine may carry out large-scale attacks on Russian oil and gas facilities, which will seriously hit Russia's economic base; second, Ukraine also has the ability to destroy Russian oil and gas facilities through various means. If Russia's oil and gas facilities are destroyed, the economic situation is bound to worsen while Russia faces severe international sanctions.
Mi-24 helicopter gunship