Last week, Russian forces struck a train standing at Dnipro Railway Station Thursday morning, killing at least 14 people and injuring at least as many more, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Speaking on ETV's "Ukraina stuudio," Laneman, a retired brigadier general in the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF), said Russia was pursuing a calculated strategy to undermine Ukraine's will, often laying the groundwork for attacks with disinformation campaigns portraying civilian infrastructure as legitimate military targets.

These campaigns will claim, for example, that "'Ukraine is planning a provocation by attacking one of its own cities, villages or critical facilities,'" he explained. "Then the attack happens, and 'See`Ukraine did it.'"

Before the Dnipro strike, Russian messaging had accused Ukraine of using its railways to transport troops, equipment and weapons, but the target, Laneman stressed, was clearly a passenger train.

He said it was a textbook war crime, and evidently intended to shock and mentally wear down the population. "And then hope that the Ukrainian public will pressure the government into surrendering or something," he added. "We've seen this throughout the war."

Russia 'resourceful' in exploiting opportunities

Laneman also acknowledged that Ukraine also lacks the resources to defend all civilian infrastructure against Russian missiles and attack drones, adding that it is particularly difficult to protect because railways and other civilian facilities aren't normally expected to be deliberate targets. Even so, history suggests such tactics rarely work.

"As a rule, these [mass attacks] don't have the effect of breaking a population's resolve to resist," he said. "They simply don't have that effect."

Commenting on the situation in Oleshky, Laneman said it was positive that an agreed ceasefire there had held during the evacuation of residents, although Russia may have used the pause to move additional troops into the area.

"Russia is very, very resourceful when it comes to exploiting any opportunity, and it would be strange if they didn't," he said.

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