Ukraine’s Long-Range Strikes Are Bringing The War Onto Russian Territory And Undermining Kremlin Narratives

Ukraine's development of long-range strike capabilities has shifted the conflict's impact onto Russian soil, challenging the Kremlin's narrative that life remains unchanged there, according to an expert at the Hudson Institute. In an interview with Ukrinform, Can Kasapoğlu highlighted that the war is now a psychological battle as well as a kinetic one.

The Kremlin's closed information system and the disproportionate presence of peripheral region residents in the fighting keep the regime's support base insulated from the war's reality, particularly in major cities. Strikes on military, logistics, and energy infrastructure are causing shortages of gasoline and directly bring the war into Russia, undermining the Kremlin's deceptive narrative.

Moreover, Russia's extensive territory presents additional challenges for its air defense, forcing Moscow to disperse resources. The effectiveness of this campaign relies on a combination of strikes with sanctions and sustained Western support for Ukraine. However, Kasapoğlu emphasized that drones and missiles alone cannot force Russia into strategic concessions.

Russia still possesses more capabilities for striking strategic targets in Ukraine than Ukraine holds for targeting its Armed Forces. The expert also noted that Russia's advantage has been bolstered by assistance from Iran and North Korea, and the country is exploiting Ukraine's lack of ballistic missile interceptors, a shared issue among NATO nations, to carry out prolonged missile launches.

Kasapoğlu recognized Ukraine's rapid adaptation to battlefield changes, accumulation of combat experience, and transformation of this knowledge into new technological solutions as its primary long-term advantage in defense technology.