Exovera’s report, Russian Documents Show Targeting of Civilian Infrastructure during Wartime. Why?, examines the decades-long evolution of Russian strategy to include civilian target selection as part of its conventional deterrence policy and operational planning. Rooted in asymmetric thinking and the pursuit of non-nuclear strategic deterrence, Russian military theorists have long advocated targeting critical infrastructure—such as nuclear power plants, chemical facilities, and industrial sites—to offset the West’s conventional superiority.
The report draws on a December 2024 Financial Times article that revealed previously secret Russian military documents from 2013–2014, detailing air-launched cruise missile strike plans on civilian and military targets in Japan and South Korea. These documents bring to light how Russian doctrine has been operationalized in Eastern theaters. Exovera’s analysis explores how these targeting strategies align with decades of Russian writings on deterrence, precision weapon development, and escalation control—highlighting that East Asia remains a key area in Russia’s broader strategy against NATO and U.S. allies.
