Pentagon says Kyiv Still Very Much “In Danger” and “At Risk” of Russian Attack

Video Above: A Conversation with Peter Huessy, Senior Warrior Maven Nuclear Weapons Analyst

By Kris Osborn – Warrior Maven

As Russian forces continue to withdraw from areas surrounding Kyiv and focus on massive power in the Eastern region near Donbass, the Pentagon is making sure to remind people that Ukraine’s capital city is still very much “at risk”

Kyiv in Danger

“Russia still has the capability to strike Kyiv. I mean, even as we started to see their troops retreat from Kyiv, and Chernihiv from the north, I said many times, that we do not believe that Kyiv was no longer under threat, particularly from airstrikes,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters April 14, according to a Pentagon transcript.

Certainly Russia is in possession of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles capable of traveling several hundred miles from distances well outside of Kyiv, and of course 4th-Generation Russian aircraft could strike as well, However, it still remains unclear whether Russia has established any kind of air superiority, even in some kind of regional capacity. A big surprise of the war thus far has been the Ukrainian ability to contest the air with its own aircraft and seemingly effective air defenses.

While many specifics are of course not available for security reasons, Ukraine’s performance against Russian aircraft seems to suggest that the country is receiving effective air defenses, as Ukraine is reported to operate old Soviet-era air defenses. There has certainly been many efforts to get them Russian-built S-300s, and Kirby has said Russian Air Forces appear to be “risk averse,” meaning they are less willing to fly into firing range of Ukrainian air defense.

However, apart from the airspace above Ukraine, there is still a very serious threat from ballistic missiles. Not long ago, the Pentagon was clear that Russia was firing short-and-intermediate range ballistic missiles into Ukraine, weapons which can easily travel several hundred miles. This would appear to be quite a possible vulnerability for Kyiv, given that the Ukrainian forces do not appear to have large enough ballistic missile defenses or interceptors sufficient to knock incoming Russian missiles out of the air.