A few weeks ago, explosions rocked two air bases in Russia, both hundreds of miles from the war in Ukraine. The explosions killed several Russian troops and damaged equipment at Engels and Ryazan, from which the Russians had conducted operations in support of their invasion of their neighboring country. At the time, it seemed far-fetched that Ukraine’s operations could reach that far into Russia, and it seemed at least somewhat more likely that the attacks might have been from within.

Perhaps that sold the Ukrainians short. This morning, Russia reports shooting down a drone targeting the Engels air base once again, and claims that Ukraine had attacked again. That in itself raises even more questions about Russian readiness, as the Associated Press points out:

The Russian military reported on Monday that it shot down a Ukrainian drone approaching an airbase deep inside Russia, the second time the airbase has been targeted this month, raising questions about the effectiveness of Russia’s air defenses if drones can fly that far into the country.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the incident took place in the early hours of Monday, and three servicemen were killed by debris at the Engels airbase that houses the Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have been involved in launching strikes on Ukraine.

Engels is located in Russia’s Saratov region on the Volga river, more than 600 kilometers (more than 370 miles) east of the border with Ukraine.

That’s a long way from the front, even as the crow flies. On the road, Engels is over 500 miles from Ukraine. To put that in perspective, Tennessee is 440 miles long as the crow flies. Kansas is only 220 miles wide. If this attack originated in Ukraine, the drone would have penetrated a full Tennessee or two Kansases without being detected, and nearly hit its target.

If that seems a little far-fetched, it probably is. It’s more likely that the Ukrainians have one or more teams that infiltrated Russia with enough technology to wreak havoc on the Russian rear. If that’s the case with Engels, it’s probably true of the earlier attack on Ryazan as well, which isn’t all that much closer to Ukraine and also sits to the east of Moscow. That kind of commando operation could easily fade into the background, given the linguistic and cultural similarities between the two sides. It might take the Russians a long time to find such a sabotage unit.

For their part, the Ukrainians aren’t admitting anything. They are, however, pointing out that launching an unprovoked war has its “consequences” for the aggressor:

Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat, speaking to Ukrainian television on Monday, did not directly acknowledge his country’s involvement in Monday’s incident, but said: “These are the consequences of Russian aggression.”

He added: “If the Russians thought that the war would not affect them in the deep rear, they were deeply mistaken”

Engels and Ryazan certainly qualify as “the deep rear,” and making the psy-ops nature of these attacks clear. The Ukrainians have been mostly careful not to send artillery in the direction of Russian border cities that clearly have provided lines of communication to the invaders. Western aid depends on discipline to prevent a wider war, so the Ukrainian attacks on places like Belgorod have been few and haven’t involved Western arms. By striking farther back, Ukrainians are essentially foregoing the tactical gains of attacks on closer lines of communication — although disrupting the air operations at these bases does have clear tactical ambitions — in favor of forcing Putin and the Kremlin to defend their war as it hits much closer to home. One has to wonder how long it will take before Ukrainian infiltrators take closer aim at Moscow.

Thus far, those attacks on Moscow have remained limited to diplomatic maneuvers. Kyiv attempted to open a new front in that direction today by demanding that the United Nations remove Russia from the Security Council, and perhaps the entire UN:

Ukraine on December 26, 2022 called for Russia to be removed from the United Nations, where Moscow can veto any resolution as a permanent member of the Security Council.

“Ukraine calls on the member states of the UN… to deprive the Russian Federation of its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and to exclude it from the UN as a whole,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that Russia “illegally occupies the seat of the USSR in the UN Security Council” since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

“From a legal and political point of view, there can be only one conclusion: Russia is an usurper of the Soviet Union’s seat in the UN Security Council,” the ministry added.

A great idea, if being in the UN reflects on universal values of justice and peace. Eight decades of the United Nations pretty much contradicts the point, however, and an effort to eject the Russian Federation from either the UN or even just the security council wouldn’t change a thing. That in itself is a fairly good condemnation of the UN’s efficacy, but Ukraine wants at least a ceremonial ejection anyway.

It’s a silly demand for a couple of reasons. First, it’s not going to happen, and demanding the impossible is both a distraction and an exposure of impotence. China will block any such proposal at the UNSC before it goes anywhere else, well aware that a similar demand may someday be floated to name Taiwan as the rightful owner of the permanent member chair Beijing now occupies. The UN General Assembly won’t eject one of the biggest countries in the world, either. The ostensible reason is an ejection would essentially negate its mission, but it’s mostly because Russia is very good at the corrupt games that take place at Turtle Bay.

Besides, the UN isn’t about justice or even security any more. It’s a debating society that hasn’t actually meant anything in a long time. The only meaningful actions taken by the UN come from its NGOs, some of which do good work on the ground, but even that might be better accomplished with less corruption through private organizations. The UN wants Russia around to engage in debate, and hopefully at some point to engage in peace talks. That’s their real purpose and value, so why would they kick any country out — especially with the need for dialogue so clear at the moment?

More attacks on Engels and Ryazan almost certainly will be more effective at applying that pressure, though. Ukraine is making it pretty clear that they will do whatever it takes to stop the attacks on its civilian infrastructure — and at least for now, they’re just responding against legit military targets. At least, we think Ukraine is limiting itself to military targets. Revenge is a dish best served cold, don’t forget.