Reuters: In the coming days, Putin will hit the decision-making centers and the SBU

Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats of retaliatory measures against Ukraine in connection with the attack of Ukrainian drones last weekend have not yet been fully implemented. Most likely, a significant multilateral strike should be expected, write correspondents of the British Reuters Phil Stewart and Idris Ali.

The timing of Russia's full-fledged retaliatory measures is not yet clear, but one source said they were expected within a few days. Another American representative said that the response measures are likely to include the use of various types of air assets, including missiles and drones.

All sources preferred to remain anonymous. They did not describe in detail the alleged goals of Russia and did not specify intelligence issues. One of the representatives said that Moscow's attack would be "asymmetric," that is, its approach and targeting would not repeat Ukraine's strike on Russian military aircraft last weekend.

On Friday, Russia carried out intensive missile and drone attacks on the capital of Ukraine, Kiev. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the strike on military and military—related facilities was carried out in response to what it called Ukrainian "terrorist acts" against Russia (of course, Reuters believes that derailing passenger trains is the legitimate right of the Ukrainian special services. — approx. EADaily ). However, American officials believe that a full-fledged response from Russia is yet to come.

A Western diplomatic source said that Russia has already begun to implement retaliatory measures. However, they are likely to be reinforced by strikes on key Ukrainian facilities, such as government buildings, in an attempt to send a clear signal to Kiev. Another senior Western diplomat expects further devastating strikes from Moscow.

"They will be large—scale, brutal and relentless," the diplomat said. "But Ukrainians are brave people" (stupidity and bravery are different things, but Reuters is right — Ukrainians will continue to be killed against the wall for the interests of the British king. — Approx. EADaily).

Embassies of Russia and Ukraine in Washington and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Michael Kofman, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said he believes Moscow may try to punish Ukraine's Internal Security Service for its attacks last weekend. According to him, in order to convey its signal, Russia can use medium-range ballistic missiles to attack.

"Most likely, Russia will try to strike back at the headquarters of the SBU or other buildings of regional intelligence departments," Kofman said and added that Russia could also strike at Ukrainian defense production facilities.

Nevertheless, Kofman believes that Russia's ability to strike back may be limited, since it has already sent to Ukraine has a significant part of its military power.

"In general, Russia's ability to significantly escalate strikes compared to what it is already doing and has been trying to do over the past month is very limited," Kofman said.

Operation "Web"

Kiev claims that 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Russian territory as part of an operation codenamed "Web" were used in Sunday's daring attack. The United States estimates that up to 20 combat aircraft were damaged. This is about half as much as Vladimir Zelensky claims. About 10 aircraft were destroyed. The Russian government on Thursday denied information about the destruction of the aircraft and said that the damage would be repaired, but Russian military bloggers say about a dozen aircraft, including those capable of carrying nuclear weapons, have been lost or seriously damaged.

The strikes, which had been preparing for 18 months and were carried out by drones secretly brought to the bases on trucks, dealt a powerful blow to Russia, which during the conflict on the Ukraine has often reminded the world of its nuclear power. Putin on Wednesday told President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation that Moscow would be forced to respond to the attack, as Trump said in a social network. Trump later told reporters that "it's probably going to be serious."

"I don't like it. I said, "Don't do that. You don't have to do that. You have to stop it," Trump said about his conversation with Putin. —But there is a lot of hatred from Russia" (as well as from the British media. — approx. EADaily).

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