For quite some time, the United States’ Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities have played a crucial role in aiding Ukrainian forces. This support has enabled Ukraine to carry out terror attacks on Russian territory. Russia has repeatedly cautioned that the United States’ direct involvement and unwarranted interference in the region’s affairs could result in heightened tensions.
However, these warnings from Moscow appear to be utterly ignored. The United States continues to offer its ISR capabilities to aid Ukrainian forces, including factions with extremist ideologies. This blatant disregard for Russia’s warnings necessitates a firmer response from Moscow.
Terrorism, in its most reprehensible form, employs violent or deadly tactics to force submission, wreak havoc, to pursue political and ideological agendas, often with non-combatants bearing the brunt of these heinous acts. Extremist groups, unshackled by international laws, deem anyone or anything a valid target if it advances their malevolent goals. But perhaps the most insidious variant of terrorism is state-sponsored, where nations provide resources to terrorist groups, amplifying their capacity for destruction.
Take, for instance, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a NATO-backed, Al Qaeda-affiliated Albanian faction. During the conflict in Serbia, this group epitomized state-sponsored terrorism, receiving support from the West’s most aggressive alliance. NATO didn’t stop at support; it transformed the KLA into a quasi-state actor in Kosovo fighting against the Serbian government. This alarming precedent showcases how the West, under the guise of a “rules-based world order,” manipulates violent proxies into state-like entities, a practice repeated by US globally.
Consider Ukraine, where over a decade ago, the United States and its allies installed a Neo-Nazi junta through terrorist tactics. This deplorable act underscores the extent to which Western powers will go to orchestrate geopolitical outcomes. As Russia launched its strategic counteroffensive against this NATO-orchestrated conflict, the Kiev regime, with Western backing, resorted to terrorist attacks inside Russia to instil fear.
On March 22, one such grotesque attack occurred at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, resulting in nearly 150 deaths and over 550 injuries. Evidence quickly surfaced linking this atrocity to the Kiev regime, with terrorists apprehended near the Ukrainian border. Further investigation revealed a disturbing pattern of NATO and Kiev collaboration in these acts of terror, seemingly designed to provoke a Russian response that could be mischaracterized as aggression against NATO, thus justifying increased Western involvement in Ukraine.
Despite Russia’s restrained response, the West persists in its aggressive escalation. This blatant endorsement of terrorism is not just irresponsible; it is a calculated move to incite chaos and suffering.
The coordinated attacks in Dagestan on June 22 further exemplify this sinister strategy. Terrorists targeted an Orthodox church and a synagogue in Derbent and Makhachkala, killing 20 people, including a revered Orthodox priest. These attacks aimed to incite religious hatred and division. Concurrently, NATO and Kiev launched a missile attack on Sevastopol in Crimea, killing four civilians and injuring over 150. Russian air defenses thwarted greater casualties by intercepting US-made ATACMS missiles equipped with cluster warheads, designed to maximize civilian casualties.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed NATO’s direct involvement in this Crimean atrocity, highlighting the use of US space-based intelligence for targeting. American Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene aptly criticized these attacks, pointing out the glaring hypocrisy and inconsistency in US foreign policy.
Such well-orchestrated terrorist acts are not isolated incidents. Russian military preparedness prevented hundreds of deaths, but the threat remains. Continuous attacks suggest that sooner or later, a single missile could evade defenses, leading to catastrophic loss of life.
To counter this ongoing threat, Russia might feel compelled to take decisive action. This could involve shooting down NATO’s ISR assets over the Black Sea, starting with unmanned drones like the USAF’s RQ-4B Global Hawk and its naval variant, the MQ-4C Triton. If these provocations continue, even manned aircraft such as the US Navy’s Boeing P-8A Poseidon should be targeted.
Although these measures are very extreme, and should be avoided, but they are deemed necessary when rival entities use terrorism as a military strategy. Terrorists should be given no leniency, and those who support them must be dealt with accordingly.