It would appear that Vladimir Putin doesn’t want anyone in the west getting too comfortable or thinking that they’ve figured out what he’s up to. After shifting the focus of the invasion almost entirely to the eastern, industrial part of Ukraine, the Russians shelled the capital city of Kyiv this morning. They hit railways and other “infrastructure” targets according to the Ukrainian Defense Minister. There were no reported deaths from the attacks thus far, though one person was hospitalized after suffering injuries. The other reported target of the strikes was a collection of tanks provided to Ukraine’s army by eastern European nations. Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that the tanks were destroyed, but Ukraine did not confirm that it was accurate. This is probably a good time to point out that there are diplomats from the United States and other NATO and EU countries back in Kyiv on a daily basis now. Surely Putin is aware that this sort of activity is keeping us on the brink of a serious escalation of the war. (Associated Press)

Russian forces pounded railway facilities and other infrastructure early Sunday in the capital, Kyiv. Ukraine’s nuclear plant operator, Energoatom, said one cruise missile buzzed the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear plant, about 350 kilometers (220 miles) to the south, on its way to the capital — citing the dangers of such a near miss.

There was no immediate confirmation from Ukraine that the Russian airstrikes had destroyed tanks.

Kyiv hadn’t faced any such strikes since the April 28 visit of U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. The early morning attack triggered air raid alarms and showed that Russia still had the capability and willingness to hit at Ukraine’s heart since abandoning its wider offensive across the country to instead focus its efforts in the east.

There is clearly a message being sent by Putin here. This was an attempt to take out western military hardware that had been supplied to Ukraine’s forces. It’s also taking place only days after Joe Biden authorized the delivery of some long-range missiles to Zelensky.

In case anyone thought that Putin wasn’t going to notice that decision and the potential escalation it represents, think again. Before launching this attack, Putin sent out a warning about not giving the Ukrainians long-range rockets. He warned that Russia would attack targets “we haven’t struck yet” if those missiles were delivered.

Russia’s defense ministry said a barrage of airstrikes on Ukraine’s capital destroyed tanks donated by the West and other armor in an attack on Sunday that shattered five weeks of eerie calm in Kyiv, as President Vladimir Putin warned the West about supplying long-range rocket systems to Ukraine.

Putin said that Moscow would hit targets “we haven’t yet struck” if it went ahead with such deliveries. It wasn’t immediately clear if Putin was referring to new targets within or outside Ukraine’s borders.

So what did Putin actually mean? (And how many times are we going to have to ask that question before this is finally over?) Clearly, Kyiv isn’t a target that Russia “hasn’t struck yet.” The capital was bombarded countless times during Russia’s initial, failed attempt to overthrow the government and control the western region of Ukraine. In fact, aside from some farms and swamps, you’d be hard-pressed to find many targets inside of Ukraine that Russian missiles or troops haven’t hit.

Is this a suggestion that Putin is looking at targets outside of Ukraine in response to the United States sending more advanced weaponry to Zelensky? That shouldn’t even be on the table at this point. There aren’t many targets outside of Ukraine at the moment that wouldn’t immediately trigger a NATO response and Moscow knows that. One other possibility I heard mentioned this morning was that Vladimir Putin is looking to create some leverage that he might be able to use to begin easing the sanctions against him.

I’m sure he would love to see that happen, but there isn’t much he could offer at this point that would give the west any incentive to do that short of a complete withdrawal from the country. I can’t see anyone in the NATO ranks saying, ‘Okay, we’ll drop all the sanctions if you don’t bomb Kyiv as often.” Everyone keeps looking for an “offramp” to end this war, but the person driving the car is Putin and the conflict is turning into a quagmire in the east.