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-Editorial
On the morning of 17 November 2024, Russia launched one of the largest airstrikes on Ukraine since August 2024, targeting cities across the country in a bid to cripple Ukraine’s power infrastructure ahead of the winter months. Over 120 missiles and 90 drones were fired overnight and in the early hours, resulting in significant casualties and widespread damage. The strikes, which took the lives of at least seven people in Mykolaiv, Nikopol, Odesa, and Lviv, have left much of Ukraine in darkness as critical power grids, including those in the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Vinnytsia, and Kyiv, were targeted.
The air raids were specifically designed to weaken Ukraine’s energy supply, increasing pressure as the country braces for a harsh winter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes, stating that the continued attacks were an attempt to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people by disrupting their daily lives and essential services. In addition to the loss of life, which included two children in the eastern city of Sumy, where a Russian missile hit a nine-story residential building, the attacks left 89 people wounded.
Ukrainian forces responded swiftly, with the Ukrainian Air Force claiming to have shot down 102 missiles and 42 drones in defense of its territory. The Polish Air Force was also placed on high alert, scrambling its fighter jets in response to the air assault.
In response to mounting military and financial pressures, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new law aimed at boosting military recruitment for the ongoing war in Ukraine. This legislation offers debt forgiveness to recruits who sign up for one-year contracts to serve in the Russian military. Under the new law, soldiers can have debts of up to 10 million rubles ($96,000) written off, including debts with court-enforced collection orders that were initiated before December 1, 2024. This policy extends not only to the soldiers but also to their spouses, offering a financial incentive to those willing to join the fight.
The law reflects the Russian government’s growing need for military personnel to sustain its nearly three-year invasion of Ukraine. The war has strained Russia’s resources, and recruitment efforts have intensified, with the government offering financial perks far beyond the average salary. The law’s passage comes after Putin’s call for an additional 180,000 troops in September 2024, a move that underscores Russia’s ongoing struggles to replenish its forces without resorting to a broader mobilization, which previously caused a wave of emigration among men trying to avoid conscription.
The war’s prolonged nature and mounting casualties have also led to an increase in nuclear rhetoric from senior Russian officials. President Putin, former President Dmitry Medvedev, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have repeatedly made threats regarding the use of tactical nuclear weapons, with some commentators warning of a potential escalation into full-scale nuclear warfare. While these threats have not yet led to the use of nuclear weapons, the situation remains precarious.
In September 2024, Russia tested its latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the RS-28 Sarmat, in what many analysts considered a show of strength aimed at deterring the West. However, the test failed, destroying its launch silo and surrounding facilities. Despite this, Putin has continued to issue stark warnings to the West, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, about the consequences of supporting Ukraine with advanced weaponry, such as long-range missiles, that could strike Russian territory.
On 19 November, Putin signed a decree that further lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons in response to conventional attacks by non-nuclear states, supported by nuclear powers. This move signals Russia’s willingness to escalate the conflict to a more dangerous and unpredictable level, should its sovereignty be threatened by outside forces. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, echoed these sentiments, with President Alexander Lukashenko warning that Belarus would use nuclear weapons if attacked by Western powers.
