first up on the show continuing its Relentless aerial Onslaught on Ukraine Russia targeted the cities of Kev and Lviv with uh missiles and drones the attacks came a day after more than 50 people were killed in a missile attack on the city of Bava now meanwhile Russian forces also claim to have destroyed Ukrainian military Targets in K region using aircraft and air defense missiles the mayor of leev also said that Russia's early morning attack on the w Western Ukrainian city has killed seven people including three children officials said that this strike also destroyed historic buildings in the heart of the city which is not far from the border with the NATO member Poland displaying its Superior air power Russia has widen its assault on Ukraine in the last few days on Tuesday the city of Bava became witness to the war's deadliest single attack this year Russia claimed that the target was a Military Institute which was being used to train military Specialists from the Ukrainian Army in radar and electronic warfare systems now Ukraine confirmed that military personnel were among those killed in the attack the attack could deal a blow to ke as it tries to bolster its ranks to hold off a major powerful enemy now the foreign Ministry said that the use of ballistic missiles meant the victims had little time to find cover after the air raid siren was sounded now it is not the first time Russia has struck military facilities away from the front lines causing Mass casualties in March 2022 35 people were killed in a Russian strike on a military base in the country's West uh in May that year Russia said that it hit a training ground for Reserve forces in the town of desna where Ukraine said 87 people were killed meanwhile Russia also seemed to be using its air power to repel the Ukrainian incursion in K the Russian defense Ministry released images to show that the suco 34 aircraft crew destroying a concentration of Ukrainian Manpower and armed armored vehicles it also released images of a paner S1 air defense missile and gun system claiming to show the destruction of a Ukrainian Armed Forces UAV now the past week has seen a marked intensification of Russia's missile and drone strikes with Ukraine enduring its heaviest bombardment yet on Monday ballistic and cruise missiles had targeted keev causing loud explosions Ukraine launched its own counter offensive deploying over 150 drones to Target Russian infrastructure including an oil refinery near Moscow and a power station The Barrage of missiles and drones also overwhelmed Ukrainian air defense systems keave has been pushing for more long range Weaponry the US is reportedly close to finalizing an agreement to provide Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles capable of reach reaching deep into Russia however C may have to wait several months for these missiles to actually arrive meanwhile Russia has warned that Moscow will give an immediate and extremely painful response in the event of long range strikes on Russian territory they are losing the sense of reality they are not thinking about the risk of further Danger escalation of the conflict even when it comes to their own interests it's not about Ukraine or Ukrainian citizens anymore they've long forgotten about them they're not thinking about themselves we would like to warn such irresponsible politicians in EU countries and behind the ocean if such aggressive steps are taken by the Kev regime Russia's response will be immediate I think many of that you have already been observing in the last days and it will be extremely painful now on the battlefield Russian forces continue uh to make advances in eastern Ukraine where fighting is particularly intense near the city of Po poop and joining us to talk more about this is Dr Malcolm Davis Senior analyst in defense strategy and capability the Australian Australian strategic policy Institute who joins us live on the broadcast from Cana Malcolm Davis thanks very much indeed for talking to VI on this afternoon uh now we saw that Tuesday was the deadliest single day attack in the war this year and Russia used ballistic missiles with all its recent gains um you know in in particularly in the east of Ukraine has Russia proved it's obviously the stronger military force and has vast air Superior superiority look I think you are seeing uh the Russians making steady advances in the EAS donet towards poov and katos and I think what's happening is the ukrainians are underand they're running low on ammunition and so they're having to withdraw in order to preserve their forces and that's basically seeding ground the Russians are filling that ground and basically making advances at the same time you've got these very effective air and missile strikes that are occurring the Russians not needing to actually fly their aircraft inside Ukrainian airspace they can launch these bombs and these cruise missiles from outside Ukrainian airspace whilst they're in Russia and so they can strike at Targets with impunity across Ukraine Ukraine only has limited air defense missile capabilities provided by the West so Ukraine is in a bad situation at the moment yeah and as it is in a bad situation Malcolm Davis heads are beginning to roll in Ukraine and uh more cabinet reshuffles are likely even as zinski is heading to the us to meet Biden and obviously will be uh talking about those air defense and systems that uh he believes are uh you know the our are hugely required at this moment exactly and it's not just the defensive systems that are necessary to shoot down incoming missiles uh it's also uh that zalinski wants the Biden Administration to lift uh onerous uh constraints on the ability of Ukraine to use us supplied weapons to strike deep in Russia if those these restrictions are lifted then Ukraine can hit air bases from which these Russian air attacks are coming from and thus stop these attacks from occurring that will help save lives it will reduce the pressure on the ukrainians potentially allowing them to stabilize their defensive lines and preventing a Russian breakout uh near um uh pokrovsk and I think it's really important that the Biden Administration actually listens to what zalinski is saying and accepts that these constraints are unacceptable immoral and need to be lifted as soon as possible right and as we see the Russians making more and more gains going forward in this war do you think things have dramatically changed and the NATO members the west and America will have to sit down and rethink some of their strategies uh of support in Ukraine and which also me look I think that yeah yeah I mean I I think that any rethink would need to be along the lines of rather than you know we stand with Ukraine uh that the policy must be we must Ensure Ukraine wins it cannot be that uh NATO decides Ukraine can't win so therefore they turn their backs on Ukraine I think what needs to happen is for NATO to sit down and look at what's what their strategy is and recognize they need to do more they need to step up and they need to provide additional weapons to Ukraine they need to remove any constraints on the use of those weapons and they may also need to think about limited some sort of direct involvement either by providing um a limited missile defense Zone in Western Ukraine so that frees up Ukrainian forces there to go to the east um and I think you know Poland has already indicated a willingness to shoot down Uh Russian missiles that are approaching polish territory over Ukraine so these are the sorts of things that I think NATO needs to do it certainly should not think about uh withdrawing support and essentially abandoning abandoning Ukraine yeah and so going forward you certainly feel that the time for wait and watch in this War has gone for the West particularly for NATO members and the US and of course maintaining of status quo as the Russians continue uh to make substantial gains now the head of the international atomic energy has said that the situation at the Russian occupied zapara nuclear power plant is very fragile uh following the recent attack close by are you hopeful that both sides will be vary of that kind of an escalation in this war oh actually I worry that the Russians would use the zapia nuclear power plant as a uh as a kind of Gray Zone nuclear threat uh you know they hold hold it they control it if they wanted to they could try to release radioactivity and claim that was some sort of Ukrainian uh operation that's you know the nature of a false flag operation by the Russians uh and certainly that would be some sort of Step short of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine so I don't I do not believe that we should expect uh the Russians will do the right thing and honor their obligations under the international atomic energy agency in fact I think the Russians will use zapia as a basically ass Sword of Damocles over the Ukrainian people and indeed when you talk about radiation and and the the the the radiation clouds blowing in the wind the rest of Europe yeah and while you talk about this direct involvement of the NATO possibly in some areas how do we deescalate this situation going forward if it if it were to I mean what sort of negoti would it require what sort of involvement possibly would it require from a country like China maybe India you don't negotiate with the Russians uh essentially you defeat them and I think that's what we need to be looking at if we start negotiating with the Russians then any negotiation requires give or take on both sides the Russians would essentially demand that they control the territories that they they have gained they have annexed through military aggression they would demand that uh Ukraine not join NATO that's unacceptable uh so therefore I do not think the time for negotiations is now I think you negotiate from a position of strength so what needs to happen is that the West needs to ensure that Ukraine regains the momentum regains the offensive and can push the Russians back out of Ukrainian territory including Crimea and then you sit down and negotiate the terms of Russia's surrender not uh give Russia a a essentially victory by default right Dr Malcolm Davis Senior analyst in defense strategy thanks very much indeed for joining us this afternoon sharing those very important thoughts uh on what's going on in this war at the moment thank you for all the latest news download the Von app And subscribe to our YouTube channel