It’s hard not to see Zelensky’s obsession with the Storm Shadows for what it is: a panic attack.
Contact us: info@strategic-culture.su
Time is really running out for Zelensky in Ukraine. A more recent obsession with long-range missiles and Ukraine’s permission to use them has made the headlines of late and an upcoming meeting in Washington DC with President Biden is now the subject for journalists. Zelensky is expected to put his case in person to Biden, but will also meet Trump later and invite him to visit Kiev. He will beg once again permission to use UK-made Storm Shadow missiles at Russian military targets within Russia, following a week of hyped up press reporting falsely claiming that Biden was about to give approval.
It’s hard to interpret the hype or its objective as now that the excitement has ebbed, we are left with some harsh realities which must be praying on Zelensky, as, neither a Trump victory nor a Harris one bodes well for him.
The volume of military aid being shipped to the Ukraine is woefully low and reports of a downed F-16 and a Kursk campaign which has cost Ukraine heavily bear witness to the overall problem that Zelensky has: logistically both with equipment and soldiers, the Ukrainians are simply outnumbered and outclassed by Russia.
Zelensky knows this and has had to deal with six government ministers leaving abruptly his cabinet after what appears to be a failing strategy on all fronts, not least Kursk.
But he will waste his time dealing with either Biden or Harris.
Joe Biden has a number of black dogs looking him in the eyes from the Ukraine dossier and the last thing he wants for his own foreign policy trail of havoc legacy is a world war with Russia – which is surely what would happen if the Storm Shadows were deployed. Biden did hint though he might allow Ukraine to use French or British-made storm missiles but not with the blessing of the U.S., which is nonsensical given that some of the components are actually made in America.
Biden has three main areas of concern about the Storm Shadows.
Firstly, he is very conscious that whatever he does now running up to the presidential election date, which actually raises the stakes in Ukraine with Russia will play into the hands of Donald Trump who has capitalized on the chaos of the war and promised a quick fix in the first few days in office, if elected. Secondly, he is worried that a fixation of the Storm Shadows will allow Zelensky to take his eye off the ball on the battlefield in Kursk, allowing Russia to deliver a humiliating defeat against Ukraine which is likely to find its troops surrounded there in the coming weeks. And thirdly, that the Storm Shadows and the hype that is attached to them will distract Zelensky and his military cabal so much, that they will leave key transport hubs like Pokrovsk – currently in the hands of Ukraine and vital for troop supplies – vulnerable, falling into the control of Russian forces. Some military analysts believe that Pokrovsk’s fall could mean a decisive advance to Russia and may even mean the end of the war, given Russian advances in other areas of the Donbass.
It’s hard not to see Zelensky’s obsession with the Storm Shadows for what it is: a panic attack. Even western media, whose narrative drips with NATO talking points [read BULLSHIT] are struggling to talk up the Kursk offensive. Is it possible that Zelensky already sees the writing on the wall and that Storm Shadows are his ultimate, last resort? The meeting in Washington appears at best to be an oxymoron held by two morons who have little understanding of their own situations. According to some reports, it is being hailed as a meeting where the Ukrainian president will present Biden with his “peace plan” while also hoping in return that he will be offered NATO membership. But nearly everything Zelensky does is disingenuous as smoke and mirrors is his style, which even recently the Russian foreign minister mentioned was tiring him. The Storm Shadows debacle will continue though as western media use it as fallback fodder when they have nothing else to write about. But like so much about the Ukraine war, they will remain largely a myth, an urban legend which village idiots will obsess over, but no one will actually be able to use. Finally, we have, if nothing else, a red line which Washington will understand and respect.