Russia Turning To 'Psychological Terror' as Forces Struggle: ISW

Drone and missile attacks on civilian targets form part of a tactic by the Russian forces which prioritizes terrorizing the Ukrainian population to making gains on the battleground, according to a U.S. think tank.

A fresh wave of explosions was reported on Tuesday morning by authorities in Kryvyi Ri, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, a day after Russia launched drone strikes on multiple cities, including Kyiv.

At least four people, including a pregnant woman, were killed on Monday in the Ukrainian capital due to the unmanned aircraft which exploded on impact.

Four others died in the northern region of Sumy, in strikes reportedly targeting energy infrastructure in attacks that followed Russia's mass missile strikes last week, launched in retaliation for the sabotage of Crimea's Kerch Bridge.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Monday that day's strikes were "consistent with the broader pattern of Russian forces prioritizing creating psychological terror effects on Ukraine over achieving tangible battlefield effects."

The ISW said Russian forces were using Iranian-supplied Shahed-136 drones "to generate the psychological effects associated with targeting civilian areas" instead of trying to gain "asymmetric operational effects by striking legitimate military and frontline targets."

These kinds of strikes can do great damage to civilian infrastructure and kill and wound many people "without creating meaningful military effects," the ISW said.

The daily assessment said Russia was turning to Tehran to get drones and missiles to make up for a depleted arsenal, although Iran has denied that it supplies weapons to either side in the war.

The Washington Post reported that Iran will likely supply additional missiles, including the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar short-range ballistic missiles, to Russia in addition to Shahed-136, Mohajer-6, and Arash-2 drones.

Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that Russia's setbacks on the battlefield have meant it is more willing to strike civilian infrastructure in addition to Ukrainian military targets.

"It is highly likely that a key objective of this strike campaign is to cause wide-spread damage to Ukraine's energy distribution network," British defense officials said in their daily update.

Since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly denied that it attacks civilian targets. However, Ukraine said that its energy facilities had been seriously damaged on Tuesday in the central city of Dnipro with power cuts reported in Zhytomyr.

Meanwhile, an overnight attack on Mykolaiv destroyed one wing of an apartment building, Kyiv said. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.