Putin will 'only escalate' attacks on Ukraine as Russian rockets hit Kyiv: Rebekah Koffler
Former U.S. defense intel officer Rebekah Koffler joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war as rockets hit Kyiv for the first time since June.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will appeal to Western nations at an emergency G7 meeting on Tuesday.
Ukraine and Germany called the meeting following a wave of devastating missile attacks on Kyiv, Liviv and more than a dozen other major cities. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attacks are revenge for the bombing of the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia and Crimea this weekend.
"They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth. Completely. Destroy our people who are sleeping at home in Zaporizhzhia. Kill people on their way to work in Dnipro and Kyiv," Zelenskyy said in a video address Monday.
Russian Security Council deputy head Dmitry Medvedev warned that the attacks will continue until Russia has achieved the "complete dismantling" of Ukraine's "political regime."
MULTIPLE EXPLOSIONS ROCK EASTERN UKRAINE CITY OF KHARKIV
Police inspect the scene of Russian shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. Two explosions rocked Kyiv early Monday following months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office on Saturday, June 18, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends meeting with military officials as he visits the war-hit Mykolaiv region. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
Strategic intelligence expert and author of "Putin’s Playbook" Rebekah Koffler cast doubt on the idea that Putin can sustain such high-volume missile strikes, however.
"Russia has lost the conventional phase of this war," Koffler told Fox News Digital. "Putin is shifting strategy to what the Russians call ‘new generation warfare’ and weapons based on new physical principles. Instead of striking targets kinetically, Russian forces and military intelligence will seek to disrupt the ‘kill chain’ by attacking Ukraine’s command and control non-kinetically."
"The targets will be primarily critical infrastructure, including civilian, as we’ve seen today. Transportation, banking, telecommunications, dams. The goal is to disrupt the normal functioning of the society—create floods, turn off electricity—in order to unbalance the Kyiv regime and frighten the population so they give up the fight," she added.
Putin is attempting to thread the needle between bringing enough force to bear to defeat Ukraine while also not getting NATO more involved than it already is.
Nevertheless, Russian forces were widely accused of targeting civilians after dozens of missiles rained down indiscriminately on Ukraine's major cities Monday, leaving many without power.
Zelenskyy published a statement denouncing Russians as "terrorists" minutes after the air raid sirens went silent in Kyiv. The sirens would start blaring once again just hours later, however.
PUTIN ACCUSES UKRAINE OF ‘TERRORISM’ IN CRIMEA BRIDGE EXPLOSION
The missile strikes come after months of relative calm in Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities. Ukraine's forces achieved significant victories throughout September, pushing Russian forces well into the territories Putin claimed to annex.
Firefighters and police officers work on a site where an explosion created a crater on the street after a Russian attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
People receive medical treatment at the scene of Russian shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
United Nations Secretary General Atonio Guterres condemned the attack on Monday, calling it an "unacceptable escalation."
"The Secretary-General is deeply shocked by today's large-scale missile attacks by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on cities across Ukraine that reportedly resulted in widespread damage to civilian areas and led to dozens of people being killed and injured," a statement from his office read.
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"This constitutes another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price," it continued.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.