Ukraine does not need to coordinate its attacks - former NBS commander

RIGA - Ukraine does not need to coordinate its attacks with other countries that support Ukraine, Juris Maklakovs, former commander of the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) and Air Force, former ambassador to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, told LETA.

According to Reuters, neither US President Donald Trump nor the British government were informed about the recent Ukrainian attack on Russian strategic bombers.

The former NBS commander explained that Ukraine does not have to coordinate its actions, except in cases where there are restrictions on the use of certain weapons. For example, the US imposed restrictions on the use of long-range missiles. Maklakovs stressed that it is up to Ukraine what targets it chooses to destroy, and this time it was done with the use of drones and a "cunning move".

The US President said on Wednesday that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin had promised in a telephone conversation that Russia will respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian strategic bombers. Asked what possible Russian retaliatory steps could be, the former NBS commander stressed that Ukraine had destroyed some 11 Russian strategic bombers, causing Russia billions of US dollars in damage.

He assumed that Russia would have found a target in Ukraine of equivalent value, such as factories, airfields, possibly F-16 fighter sites. In Maklakovs' view, this will not be an easy target, because the kind of damage Russia has suffered in the past few days has never been seen before, unless you are talking about human lives.

As to whether Ukrainian forces might have already prepared attacks against other targets in Russia, the former NBS commander answered in the affirmative. The attack on Russian strategic bombers and the foundations of the Crimean bridge had been planned for a long time. In his view, Ukraine clearly still has many plans to implement, as it does not usually plan one operation at a time, but several.

He also noted that the lack of proper defense of the strategic bombers by Russia was careless. However, as regards to Russia's ability to fight, in Maklakovs' view, the Ukrainians underestimate Russia because it has improved its combat capabilities and equipment over the past years.

"It is better to assess the opponent more highly. This would give the Ukrainians a better chance to prepare for a Russian attack, because underestimating Russian forces cannot be allowed. Russia must be assessed as a strong opponent, all options must be prepared to protect against Russian surprises. Ukraine, NATO and the European Union must do the same," said the former NBS Commander.

In his view, Russia is tired of war and is interested in a solution. According to Maklakovs, Russia will start talking about a ceasefire only when it fully conquers Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts, but nothing will happen until then.