Comments so far seem to have ignored the relationship between the Eastern front and the strategic bombing. In fact, they were directly related. Stalin agitated

Comments so far seem to have ignored the relationship between the Eastern front and the strategic bombing. In fact, they were directly related. Stalin agitated ceaselessly for the Allies to open a second front in France, even back to 1942, to draw off German troops. The Allies weren't ready, but the bombing did at least tie up a lot of German planes and anti-aircraft that otherwise would have been used against the USSR. It had a political value, in other words. Whether it really did disrupt German logistics for the Eastern front is debatable, but it showed Stalin that at least the Allies were doing something. Even if the German civilian suffering was for naught, I don't think Stalin saw it that way.