Long-range Ukrainian drone strikes on air bases hundreds of miles inside Russian territory on Monday and Tuesday demonstrated that Kyiv was willing and able to escalate the war on its own terms.
These attacks represent a serious military challenge for the Kremlin but are also politically convenient. They reinforce President Putin’s new message: that this is a national, patriotic struggle for the survival of the Motherland in which there can be no bystanders or backsliders.
On Wednesday, Putin gave his clearest signal of his latest strategy, both on the battlefield and at home. Admitting that “it could be a lengthy process”, he framed the conflict as a defensive one against a West which for years replied to Russian security concerns “just by spitting in our
