It’s well known that when Vladimir Putin staged his “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he expected it to be the shortest military event in history — a few days, maybe a couple of weeks at the most. He saw himself as the savior of the Ukrainian people, who needed to be rescued from their “nazi” regime and thus would welcome him with open arms.

Instead, he found a nation of people who have been very happy with their freedom and independence; who love and are proud of their country; and who are willing to fight to keep it out of the clutches of Putin’s totalitarian rule.

So it has dragged on for three years — not a “special” operation at all, but a war of attrition that has resulted, not only in the death and destruction of large portions of Ukraine, but in the loss of hundreds of thousands of Putin’s own military troops . . . not to mention incalculable damage to Russia’s economy and its world standing.

And now — in a total reversal of fortune, though not for the first time in its history — war has come to Moscow.

As long as Ukraine’s incursion into the bordering Kursk region of Russia remained localized, Putin was able to downplay its effect and its strategic importance. But when drones started striking apartment and other buildings in the Moscow Oblast itself . . . well, it became a bit more difficult for the state-controlled media to explain away.

People are being killed and injured — just a few so far. But that’s a few too many, of course . . . especially in the minds of the Russian people, for whom the war is suddenly real, and the fear palpable.

In one area near Domodedovo Airport , three men working at a distribution center were killed when their building was hit by drone debris. Dozens of vehicles in the car park were destroyed, and a nearby supermarket was badly damaged. [Jaroslav Lukiv & Rachel Hagan, BBC News, March 11, 2025.]

In another suburban Moscow area, a drone smashed into the upper floors of a high-rise apartment building, damaging seven apartments. And in a third neighborhood, a block of apartments was hit. [Andrey Borodulin, AFP, March 11, 2025.]

Compared to the devastation wrought in Ukraine over the past three years, the damage in Russia thus far has been minimal. But it is real; and it is bound to play havoc with Putin’s credibility.

Just as he never considered the likelihood of the Western nations pulling together in defense of Ukraine as they have done, so does he seem to have overlooked the possibility of his own territory being affected by any sort of counter-insurgency.

But it has happened. And maybe it will prove to be an incentive for him to drop some of his more outrageous demands, and come to the negotiating table in a more reasonable state of mind.

And hopefully before things escalate any further.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/12/25