Military analyst Ivan Konovalov says Russian forces will step up the intensity of their strikes on Ukraine in response to the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces. He made this assessment while commenting on the Ukrainian drone attack on Rostov-on-Don that took place during the night of 14 January.

Konovalov argued that the scale and power of Russian retaliation would only increase. He stressed that Russia has a wide range of tools available for such responses, and that, in his view, the key factor is the massed nature of the strikes, which, as he put it, can be expanded further.

The expert added that Western military analysts still find it a «serious and painful» issue to accurately gauge the real capabilities of the Russian army. He recalled that after Ukrainian UAVs struck President Vladimir Putin’s residence in Novgorod Region at the end of December last year, the Russian Armed Forces used the Oreshnik missile system against targets in Ukraine.

During the night attack on 14 January, air defences in Rostov-on-Don repelled the strike, but falling drone debris caused fires in apartments in several high-rise buildings. Local authorities reported that four people were injured, including a four-year-old child, and one man was killed. All the injured were taken to hospital, where their condition was described as moderate.

According to the Telegram channel SHOT, Ukrainian forces used FP-1 type drones to strike Rostov-on-Don, launching them from Kharkov Region.