Well, people, I think, are
being struck
by the increasing
desperate nature
of the sort of smorgasbord of threats
being made by the Russians against
everybody who's ever supplied a weapon
to Ukraine with you got Gaza
in the mercenary leader saying
he wants to come and start fighting
or protecting Russian territory.
Remember, he's
been pulling out of parliament
at the moment,
being replaced by Russian forces.
But all of this
is against the backdrop
of the continuing campaign by Russia
against Ukraine civilians
grief has struck again
in Kiev, overwhelming grief
when a loved one is taken.
Three people killed here
in Russia's
latest attack on Ukraine's capital.
A 3 a.m.
civilians ran for cover.
The bunker was inexplicably locked.
Debris from a downed missile
killed two women and a child.
A fatal accident
in an all too deliberate attack
Such events are driving
support for Ukraine
from NATO's Europe and beyond.
That is why
every European country
that borders Russia
and that does not want Russia to do
their part
should be a full member
of the EU and NATO.
And there are only two
alternatives to this either
an open war or creeping Russian
occupation.
NATO's weapons are already
in use in Ukraine's east.
And now Ukraine has launched a campaign
inside Russian territory.
At least eight people have been injured
and hundreds
evacuated from
what are now frontline villages
in Russia.
The original sin of Russia's
invasion of Ukraine compounded
as it is by their continued targeting
of civilians.
The absolute
brutality of their occupation
has ceded Ukraine.
An honest salable position
on the moral high ground.
But they've got to hold on to that
even as they prosecute
their own campaigns
inside Russian territory.
You just made
a massive attack is ongoing.
The lives of local people,
primarily in Shabak,
in our nearby villages, are in danger.
anti-Putin, Russians and Ukraine's forces
claim to have raided his province
a second time
and broadcast these warnings.
Now, this is the month
you won't stay in your homes.
Don't worry.
Soldiers of the Russian volunteer corps
are not at war with civilians.
They claim to have
hit Russian ammunition dumps
and other military targets.
But Russia says the Raiders
were driven out with heavy casualties.
Still, Ukraine now
holds the initiative on this front
while Russia continues to reign.
Misery from the sky.
Yaroslav lost his wife
and nine year old daughter
in this raid on Kiev.
It was a normal day.
Nothing matters anymore, he says.
There are no more people left
now.
And the scale of the hysteria inside
Russia and has really demonstrated
how effective this relatively
limited campaign
from the Ukrainians
and their
the Russians that they support from
that are dissident
Russians who've been crossing
the borders there.
But it is just about 25 minutes drive
from where I'm standing.
We are within missile range
and there's an anticipation
that the Russians may try to strike back,
frankly, and try and drive
the Ukrainians back away from the border,
which has been their campaign
now for more than a year.
Sam, thank you very much.
As he said, about 25 miles away
from that border in Kharkiv.
OUTFRONT now,
Alma K2,
former CIA
and now senior intelligence analyst.
She's also the author of Red London.
Also with me, retired Air Force Colonel
Cedric Leighton.
And, Colonel,
let me just start with you
because, you know, you heard
what Sam's reporting, right?
This hysteria inside Russia
because of this new front in the war,
a front that is inside Russia.
I mean,
this is something that
this just to be emphasized,
that, Colonel,
even a few months ago
would have been unthinkable
would have been considered
an absolute red line. And now it's up.
We just had
air raid
sirens
in Kursk
near the churning of Ukraine border.
And also obviously,
the smoke in Belgorod,
the drone attack in Moscow this week.
This is constant.
What are the implications?
Well, the implications are actually huge.
One of the key things here is that
these are very limited attacks.
And it would be very interesting
to see the Russian reaction
if the Ukrainians mounted
even further attacks
against the Russians
and against Russian towns.
In essence,
what the Ukrainians have been doing this
they've been giving the Russians
a taste of their own medicine
and they don't really like it very much.
And that's going to be,
I think, a major factor
in the Russian response,
which could get pretty nasty,
unfortunately. Right. Right.
I mean, the real question is
how much more can they can they scale up?
We heard that
Russian reporter write expressing fear.
Oh, we're scared of a car driving by.
Well, how about go a few miles away
and go to Ukraine?
But but but there he is in Russia.
Feeling this way.
We play a little bit more
about what that Russian reporter said.
What a different time of year.
This is a frontline town
turning into a frontline in this please.
People are leaving
as Ukrainian artillery
caused a real terror here.
These dark plumes of smoke
are everywhere.
The Israeli border
so he's talking about the impact
on the psyche in the towns.
But what does this do to Putin?
How does all this impact Putin's psyche?
Well, it's
probably very unnerving for him.
You've got to understand that
he's used to being an absolute control,
being seen as being in absolute control.
He's kept
the Russian people
in a propaganda bubble.
And so these types of attacks
sort of undermine his narrative.
He
you know,
these are mostly Russian nationals
who are carrying out these attacks.
Our understanding
with guidance from either
Ukrainian special forces
in the military or perhaps intelligent,
but Russian nationals.
So in a very public way,
they're pushing back.
And he's not used to that.
Yeah.
I mean, this is going
be the real question of how he responds.
I mean, Colonel Leighton,
the Russian defense
ministry is saying 50 out of 70 now.
They're saying
these were Ukrainian fighters,
although Almaz is right.
Our understanding here
is that these are Russian nationals.
But the Russians are saying
these Ukrainian fighters,
50 out of 70 of them,
they're saying who attacked
Belgorod were killed.
Now, it's
obviously impossible
to know if any of these numbers
have any veracity to them.
They have never had honesty
about their numbers,
and we don't know
whether there were 70 of them.
We don't know who they were.
We don't know how many were killed.
But what do you make of
this claim in and of itself?
Well, I think there's a lot
of bravado attached to this claim, Erin.
And, you know,
one of the key things is that, you know,
I correctly pointed out,
I you know, Putin has
put these people in an amazing bubble
and the bubble is being pierced.
And the fact that this bubble is being
burst is a big shock to them.
And so they're going to come out
with these kinds of news reports,
if you will, news bulletins
from their side
that indicate that their forces are
doing something against these Ukrainian
fighters.
But the key element here is that I think,
first of all,
I think those reports taken
with a large grain of salt.
Right.
And secondly,
it really speaks
more to the fear
that the Russians have, that
the Ukrainians
might actually be on to something
and might be actually exposing
the weakness
of the Russian state of this.
Right.
And certainly,
you know,
we saw that in Moscow, Prigozhin
calling that out. Right.
That the drones came
and the air defenses weren't
didn't stop most of it. Right.
So
but if these attacks continue
as is, there's no reason
to think that they will.
There was one
just in the past hour
that we understand about in Kursk
near the border.
What does what does Putin do?
I mean, this
as I said a few months ago,
this was unthinkable.
This would have been a red line.
Is there such a thing at this point?
I think
that's the million dollar question.
I think.
I mean, I know a lot of us
would like to see him back down or,
you know, have some sort of situation
where he does that.
But but I don't think we'd
see him do that per se.
You know,
we have to remember that
the Russian character is very macho.
He can never appear to be weak.
And so,
you know,
he said that he's committed
to playing the long game.
Now,
And that would actually
work in our favor.
It might lead to a situation
where we could find
some kind of compromise,
a compromise that he'd accept
because it would help him save face.
But, you know,
he's indicated
that he won't change from the strategy,
but the thing that would force them off
is if there was an attack
that caused major damage,
something that he could not ignore,
because then
if he did, he would seem weak
and he would just,
you know, open the door
to his political rivals.
And Colonel, is a quick follow to that.
You think that the Ukrainians
are still pushing for what everybody at
this point is still saying
is a red line,
although many still say
go ahead and cross it anyway.
And that would be Crimea itself.
Yeah, I think that's
what the Ukrainians are going to do.
I think these are probably feints
in the direction of Russia right now.
But, you know, anything is possible.
But I think Ukraine
is going to make Crimea its big target.
All right.
And that really will be
a true test of where
where all of this stands.
Thank you both so very much.