Russia's response this week to an attack on a critical Crimean bridge reflected the difference between the governments in Kyiv and Moscow.
The strike on the Kerch Strait Bridge, which the Ukrainian government has not officially claimed responsibility for, was strategic. It crimped a vital supply line to territory Russia illegally cleaved through force and a sham referendum — the same method Moscow used to annex Crimea itself in 2014.
Conversely, the Kremlin's response — missile and drone attacks on noncombatants in multiple Ukrainian cities — wasn't militarily strategic, however tragic. It took at least 20 lives and injured scores more innocents, including women and children. But it did not demonstrably alter the course of a war in which Ukraine has more military momentum, methodically retaking territory from the invaders.
