Russia launches «Shaheds» into Europe: Zhdanov names Putin’s unexpected goal

Isolated flights of Russian drones over European countries will not change the tactics of strikes on Ukraine — this is a parallel, mostly political process.

Military expert Oleh Zhdanov expressed this opinion in a comment to TSN.ua.

«This is a parallel process. I wouldn’t link it. It’s more of a political process than a military one. Look at what Putin is doing. He is fueling contradictions within NATO itself. Do you see what is happening there? Some say to shoot them down, others say not to shoot them down. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says they will watch and think while they are flying, whether to shoot them down or not. And Poland has actually revived the political movement of a bill that would allow the Polish military to shoot down Russian drones and missiles immediately upon entering Polish airspace, and even over Ukrainian territory. Without approval from NATO and the EU. I’ll tell you, this is practically the end of NATO, ” said Oleh Zhdanov.

According to him, the Kremlin’s goal is to sow discord within Europe and NATO, forcing them to doubt their unity and response.

«And then divide and conquer. Then one by one, he’ll try to „strangle“ them. If they don’t snap out of it and start banding together against the Russian Federation. This won’t affect the strikes on Ukraine in any way. NATO is already geopolitics. These are processes of continental and global scale. And the war with us is its own thing. It’s about the existence of the empire itself,» Zhdanov believes.

The expert adds that the Kremlin is trying to weaken support for Ukraine to leave it without Western aid, as Ukrainian defense largely relies on arms and ammunition supplies from partners:

«He needs to disunite our partners and leave us without help. He understands that we’re fighting „on the fly.“ And we’re fighting mainly thanks to Western aid. Despite the fact that we produce 40% of our arms and ammunition needs ourselves, we’re producing it with our partners' money—they invest and buy weapons and ammunition from our military-industrial complex for Ukraine’s Armed Forces. So Putin is going his own way, persistently trying to win this war».