Ukraine's Long-Range Strikes Bring War To Russian Territory, Undermine Kremlin Narratives Expert

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Can Kasapoglu, a senior fellow and defense analyst at Hudson Institute, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"Ukraine's burgeoning long-range strike regime should not be understood solely as missile and drone warfare; it is also psychological warfare," Kasapoglu said.

The expert noted that Russia's closed information system and disproportionate combat recruitment from peripheral regions insulate the regime's metropolitan social base from an imperial occupation brutalizing Ukrainian civilians.

"The average Russian does not begin each morning reading the Washington Post. Striking military, logistical, and energy targets while generating a gasoline crisis brings the war home and punctures the Kremlin's narrative of normality," Kasapoglu said.

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At the same time, he said, Russia's vast territory creates an additional challenge for its air defenses, as it forces Moscow to spread its defensive resources across a large area.

The expert stressed that the effectiveness of this campaign also depends on combining it with sanctions and sustained Western support for Ukraine. However, he said, drones and missiles alone cannot force Russia to make strategic concessions.

"Russia retains greater capacity to strike strategic targets in Ukraine than Ukraine possesses against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," the expert said.

He added that Iran and North Korea have significantly strengthened this Russian advantage through their assistance. In addition, Russia is exploiting Ukraine's shortage of ballistic missile interceptors – a NATO-wide inventory problem that grants Russia leverage and enables sustained ballistic missile salvos.

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