State Duma deputy Andrey Kolesnik said the retaliatory strike carried out by Russian forces against enemy facilities in Ukraine on the night of July 2 was highly effective.
According to him, one of the main goals of such attacks is to prevent the Ukrainian Armed Forces from moving troops and armored vehicles to the front. Kolesnik said Ukrainian forces must be deprived of the ability to operate equipment running on petroleum products, including tanks, armored personnel carriers and aircraft.
The deputy told Lenta.ru that the Russian Armed Forces are now targeting facilities that directly affect the combat readiness of the Ukrainian military. He described the latest strike as highly effective and argued that the issue is no longer only about retaliation, but about hitting sites that reduce the enemy’s battlefield capabilities.
Kolesnik also noted that the strikes targeted various facilities linked to Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, with special attention given to fuel-and-energy infrastructure. He said this included gas storage sites and oil depots.
In his assessment, retaliatory strikes differ from regular attacks in the scale of the weapons used. He also said that civilian infrastructure may sometimes be affected because, in Ukraine, it is closely connected with the military sphere.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported a massive retaliatory strike on facilities in Ukraine. The ministry said the attack was carried out with high-precision air-, ground- and sea-launched missiles.