The reports are increasing seemingly on a daily basis, Russia Launches a Large-Scale Attack on Ukraine, Russia Attacks Ukraine With One of the Largest Aerial Assaults of the War, Russia Warns 'Get Out of Kyiv' as Putin Threatens 'Nuclear-Scale' Strike on City. The pace and the intensity of the attacks are clearly accelerating. What’s behind the surge?

To understand why the attacks are ramping up in this moment it’s important to look at what and who is being targeted. The targets are civilians and civilian infrastructure. Apartment buildings, residential houses, hospitals, schools. Not the battlefield, not the supply lines, not the ammunition depots. The primary targets are unarmed civilians. It’s not a one-off or an isolated incident. It’s a strategy repeated day after day, night after night with purpose and intent.

Again it’s very important to recognize the significant increase in the recent tempo and brutality of the attacks. It’s been bad since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 March 2022, but over the past two months the magnitude and volume of the barrages is far greater and increasing.

Once more the headlines tell the story: Ukraine Scores Major Battlefield Gains, Russia Stalls, Ukraine Pushed Russia Back in May for Second Month Running, Russia Bets on Air War as It Stumbles on the Battlefield. Direct cause and effect, as Ukraine gains traction on the battlefield Putin and Russia become more desperate and resort increasingly to intensifying their efforts to kill and maim Ukrainian civilians.

It was not the first time. Bob Woodward in his book War reveled the communications between the Putin and Biden governments as a major Ukrainian offensive in Kherson Oblast seemed poised to hurl the Russians back across the Dnipro River and liberate the city of Kherson. Putin and his entourage in private communications implied that continued advancements by Ukrainian forces could lead to use of Nuclear weapons. Correctly or incorrectly Biden, CIA director Bill Burns and Chief National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan were very worried that the threat could materialize. Ukraine pushed to the river but no further.

On 25 May Russia warned foreigners and diplomats to leave Kyiv and its “decision making centers” as those would be the targets of upcoming strikes. It bears noting that thus far an exodus of such personnel does not appear to be underway.

In the run-up to the invasion of Ukraine Putin had convinced himself that conquering Russia’s neighbor to the West was of existential importance. With Ukraine resurgent and Putin’s empire now threatened existentialism takes on a new meaning for the Russian leader. He now displays the characteristics of a cornered animal.

The latest round of deadly strikes on Ukrainian civilians now are carried out with the passion of a jealous spouse intent on teaching a lesson to a disobedient former partner. The rage is visceral, palpable. Putin has now reached his weakest and most dangerous state. To Ukraine, Europe and Russia itself. No one on earth knows Russia better than the Ukrainians. They have the best chance of understanding what to do.