"To force a peace on Putin's terms." Former top Finnish intelligence official explains Russian strikes

With nightly shelling and civilian casualties, the Russians want to "break the back of the Ukrainian people" and force Ukraine to surrender and make peace on the terms of dictator Vladimir Putin, but they will not succeed. This opinion was expressed in an interview with LIGA.net by Pekka Toveri, former head of Finnish intelligence (2019-2020), retired general, and Member of the European Parliament.

The former military officer was asked how he perceives the significant increase in Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent months.

"As revenge. In Finland, there's a term – mummunpotkija (literally translated from Finnish – "granny killer". – Ed.). That's what they call a guy who beats old grandmothers because he's afraid to meet someone of his own 'size'. This is about Russia. They can't defeat the Ukrainian army, and for that, they will punish Ukrainian civilians," he replied.

The former head of Finnish intelligence emphasized that throughout the entire period since the start of the full-scale invasion, the occupiers have not been able to break through Ukraine's defenses.

And although the invaders are capable of producing up to 1200 cruise and ballistic missiles per year, Russia is not very successful against the Ukrainian military, because the Armed Forces of Ukraine "skillfully conceal and move their deployment locations and protect them", Toveri explained.

Therefore, he added, Moscow is attacking civilian infrastructure and facilities because "children's hospitals cannot run away and hide."

"The Russians believe that they can break the back of the Ukrainian people with nightly shelling, civilian casualties, and strikes on civilian infrastructure. That this will force Ukraine to surrender and make peace on Putin's terms. This is a false hope," the retired general noted.

In his opinion, Russia will terrorize Ukraine even more with shelling: "Every Ukrainian is a target for the Russians. This is completely illegal, completely against all international norms and rules. But they don't care."

Toveri noted that when Russia goes to war, it considers "every person a legitimate target," including civilians.

"That's why the Russians kill everyone they can reach," the former military officer concluded.

• On the night of June 29, the occupiers launched 60 missiles and 477 drones at Ukraine. There were consequences in Cherkasy, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Poltava regions. Air defense forces neutralized 475 targets.
• On the night of June 30, Russia attacked Ukraine with 107 drones; there were hits in more than 10 locations. 74 drones were neutralized.