Attacking these targets could cripple Russia’s war machine: ExpertsNavy Times By Michael Peck 9/9/2025
By striking eight targets across Russia, Ukraine could badly damage Russia’s war machine, according to some U.S. experts.
A mixture of drone and missile attacks — as well as limited ground offensives into Russian-controlled territory — could enable the Ukrainians to break the current stalemate and affect the course of the Russia-Ukraine war, argues an August report by the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank.
The Hudson target list details “eight high-value and militarily plausible targets that Ukraine should pursue to weaken Russia’s warfighting ability and increase the political cost of invading and occupying Ukrainian territory,” wrote Hudson researchers Luke Coffey and Can Kasapoğlu.
“While a single strike against any one of these targets would not by itself constitute a decisive blow, cumulatively, a sustained attack against several of them could significantly damage Russia’s military infrastructure and complicate its continued aggression,” the report argues.
The Volga-Don Canal, a 63-mile waterway connecting the Caspian and Black Seas, enables Russia to sail ships into the Black Sea, and Iran to ship weapons to Russia. Damaging the canal’s 13 locks would be difficult: Though Russian air defenses in the area are weak, Ukrainian drones and missiles would still need powerful warheads and pinpoint accuracy. However, “a successful strike would deal a major geopolitical blow to Russia as well as to the Islamic Republic,” Coffey and Kasapoğlu argue.
“Movement of military and commercial vessels between the Caspian and Black Sea would also slow and halt, causing economic disruption,” according to the report.
A joint Russo-Iranian drone factory in the Russian republic of Tatarstan manufactures most of the Iranian-designed Shahed drones that have pummeled Ukrainian cities. While Ukraine probably can’t destroy such an enormous facility through bombardment, it can target the factory’s Achilles-heel, its electrical supply.
More:
https://www.navytimes.com/global/europe/2025/09/09/attacking-these-targets-could-cripple-russias-war-machine-experts/
