Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Russia launched more 90 missiles on Ukraine, including 36 ballistic missiles, and 600 drones.
Following a massive swarm of highly advanced missiles hammering major Ukrainian cities overnight from May 23 to May 24, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the operation directly answered Ukrainian “terrorist attacks” and strikes against civilian sites inside Russia.
By Sunday, top Russian officials amplified this message. Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev claimed the strikes served as revenge for an earlier Ukrainian attack in occupied Luhansk Oblast.
He alleged that a Ukrainian strike on May 22 in the town of Starobilsk had killed children.
Kyiv pushes back
However, the view from Kyiv tells a completely different story.
On the same day as the alleged incident, the Ukrainian General Staff reported a successful operation in that exact area.
Their missiles hit the headquarters of the Russian Rubikon Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies near Starobilsk.
Devastating Russian attack
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) the Russian attack during the weekend saw 90 missiles, including 36 ballistic missiles, and 600 drones being launched at Ukraine.
The most notable missile used was the Oreshnik Intermediate-range ballistic missile – one of Russia’s most dangerous missiles that can reach speeds of more than 10 times the speed of sound.
Russian milbloggers however slammed the use of the Oreshnik as a smokescreen by the Kremlin.
While the missile is expensive and can be devastating, the ISW notes that Russian milbloggers said the attack did not have a clear military target, at least not one significant enough to deploy an expensive missile like the Oreshnik.
ISW suggests that the overall sentiment among the milbloggers is that the Russian military command used the Oreshnik missile attack to divert attention from the strruggles of the Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine.
Glaring hypocrisy
Uncovering the absolute truth in an active war zone remains a deeply complicated task.
In its latest assessment, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated it could not independently verify which target was actually hit during the operation. Still, the expert analysts noted a glaring issue with the Kremlin’s sudden outrage.
They explained that Moscow’s public justification completely contradicts Russia’s own long-term patterns in the conflict. The think tank noted that Russian forces regularly target civilians.
As the ISW notes, weaponizing civilian harm is a well-known Russian tactic in Ukraine and has been used for years as an intentional tool.
This history makes Moscow’s complaints conflict with its own actions on the ground.
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian General Staff
