We have a very little time to prevent a major catastrophe.
In the near future, Russian invaders will start to meticulously erase Kyiv from the surface of Earth. A city with a population of almost 4 million. Yes, it will be a horrendous catastrophe and thousands of innocent souls will be killed in the process.
However, it will be even more horrible if the West stands nearby but looks away without support with their fighter jets or air defense.
Retired Major General Mick Ryan writes that at some point, the Russians will have to capture the Ukrainian capital. It is clearly the main effort for the Russian military forces – and for Putin’s desired political endgame for the war.
The Russians are likely to use a combination of artillery, rockets, and airdropped bombs, including cluster munitions. We may also see thermobaric weapons. The infamous TOS-1A combines a multiple launch rocket system with thermobaric projectiles to produce a weapon capable of horrific destruction.
This is a very brutal form of warfare. The costs will be terrible for civilians, first of all.
Because of city terrain, neither side will be able to concentrate large numbers of troops at any place and time. It will be a battle of thousands of small military teams against each other at very close quarters.
Due to concentrated firepower and thousands of team-to-team combats, there will be massive destruction in Kyiv. It is now the way the Russians have chosen to capture cities. We see evidence of this in Kharkiv and Mariupol. Not only does it create new physical terrain used by defenders, but it also wreaks havoc and causes suffering among civilians.
This is a type of warfare with pitiless destruction and bloodiness we have not yet seen in this war. A Russian attack on Kyiv will be a grim, drawn-out battle that will last weeks and possibly months. So we again appeal to help Ukraine and to supply us, at least, fighter jets for long strikes against Russian artillery and to increase air defense against Russian bombers. We have very little time.
