Major General Fayez al-Duwairi, a military and strategic expert, said that the mutual escalation between Russia and Ukraine is due to a number of reasons on both sides, represented in each party's efforts to influence the psychological side of the other, reveal its weaknesses, and try to impose a new field reality.

He pointed out that the recent high-intensity Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, confirm that it is its first target, as it is a center of gravity that takes different dimensions, and the backbone of the country's main economy.

Al-Duwairi's remarks came within the framework of the episode devoted by the program "Beyond the News" on (2023/5/29) to address the mutual escalation between Moscow and Kiev, as Ukraine said that Russia has intensified its attacks on the capital, Kiev, and on various battlefronts eastern, southern and northern of the country, calling on the West to strengthen Ukrainian defenses, including F-16 aircraft.

But Russia, which has reiterated its commitment to achieving its goals in Ukraine, said Kiev had attacked the Belgorod province, whose governor demanded the annexation of Kharkiv to secure the province.

The program questioned the significance of Russia's intensification of missile and drone attacks on Kiev and Ukraine's escalation in Russia's Belgorod province, and the complications that could be added by Kiev's demand for the West to strengthen its air defenses and the Belgorod's call to annex Kharkiv to the province.

Weaknesses

Al-Duwairi explained in his speech to "Beyond the News" that one of the most prominent reasons for the escalation of the Russian side is the response to a previous Ukrainian escalation that exposed the weaknesses and weaknesses of the Russian army, and highlighted the flaws of the Russian military system, and therefore Moscow had to respond to prove its military superiority.

The military and strategic expert also saw this escalation in anticipation of the attack that Kiev talks about seeking to carry out, in an attempt to abort early and interfere with the basic preparations for it at the planning and field levels, through various targets.

Kiev's motives for escalation are to seek to confuse the Russian defense system and impose a new reality on the ground by supporting military operations in Belgorod and attacking an oil refinery.

In the context of talking about Kiev's demand for the West to strengthen its air defenses, Major General Duwairi believes that the ceiling of Ukraine's demands is high, and it is more represented in the number of weapons it demands, not in the types, as it has already reached more than 15 types, but it still demands an increase in the number of these weapons.

Specific goals

Russian political and military analyst Roland Begamov believes that the recent attacks carried out by Moscow in Kiev are aimed at knowing the location of US Patriot missile launchers, working to destroy Kiev's air defense capabilities and affecting the residents of the capital, Kiev.

He pointed out in his speech to "Beyond the News", that these attacks, the first of their kind with this intensity, downplaying the impact of Kiev's downing of a number of Russian drones, which he said are of the cheapest type, and their goal is to know the launchers in Kiev, and therefore their downing does not bother Moscow.

Regarding the attacks carried out in the Russian province of Belgorod, Begamov said that they were launched from Ukrainian territory and were under the supervision of Ukrainian intelligence, and American armored vehicles were used, stressing that there is no presence in Russia for opposition forces and internal resistance.

But Oleksiy Melnik, a former Ukrainian assistant defense minister, said the attacks were carried out by two groups of Russian citizens, and although they were coordinated with the Ukrainian side, official forces did not participate in those operations.

He explained in his speech to "Beyond the News" that the most prominent goal of these attacks is to psychologically affect the Russian administration and society, and to show the weakness of the Russian ground forces and their inability to maintain order in that region, in light of the success of limited groups of people to cause this confusion.

He explained that what happened sent a message to Moscow to take care of it internally, stressing that there is no worse situation that can be imagined as a result of Ukraine's support for these attacks, than Russia is now doing in its war in Ukraine.