During their confrontation in the Oval Office last February, Donald Trump infamously told his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, ‘You don’t have the cards’ to play against Russia. It now appears that Trump could not have been more mistaken if he tried. Yesterday, Ukraine executed a stunning and unexpected act of sabotage against Russia, directing a flotilla of explosive-laden drones at several airbases across the country.
Ukraine worked across three time zones to launch 117 drones, successfully destroying 41 nuclear-capable bomber jets at four air bases across Russia.
Dubbed ‘Operation Spider’s Web’, Ukraine coordinated efforts across three time zones to launch 117 drones, successfully destroying 41 nuclear-capable bomber jets at four airbases throughout Russia. The attacks covered the length of the country: two military bases in the Ivanovo and Ryazan regions — less than 200 miles from Moscow — were targeted, as was a base in the Arctic region of Murmansk, over 1,900 miles from Ukraine, and another in Siberia, over 3,400 miles from the conflict’s frontline. A fifth military base, located in the far eastern Amur region bordering China, was also targeted; however, the truck carrying the drones caught fire before deployment could take place.
According to Ukrainian officials, the operation took over 18 months to plan and was personally overseen by Zelensky. It was a complex mission with many moving parts: the drones and their storage crates had to be smuggled onto Russian soil and loaded into trucks. These trucks were driven close to the military bases and parked outside, before the roofs were reportedly removed remotely and the drones flown up and out towards their targets. Trump was reportedly not informed by Kyiv before the attacks took place.
Acknowledging the attacks in his nightly address yesterday, Zelensky declared the operation would ‘definitely appear in history books’. He said the operatives responsible for carrying out the attack had all safely returned to Ukrainian territory, although Russia claims to have arrested one of the men allegedly driving one of the trucks. In remarks sure to enrage the Kremlin even further, Zelensky revealed that ‘the “office” of our operation on Russian territory was located right next to the Russian FSB headquarters in one of their regions’.
Ukraine is naturally emphasising the attack’s devastating consequences for Russia’s ability to bombard them. There appears to be merit in this: the drone strikes primarily targeted Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers, which Russia has used to launch long-range missiles into Ukraine. After a weekend during which Ukraine again endured heavy bombardment — Moscow launched 472 drones and seven ballistic missiles at the country on Saturday night — this will provide a welcome morale boost.
Zelensky claimed that the strikes eliminated a very specific 34 per cent of Moscow’s strategic cruise missile carrier stock. While Kyiv asserts that about $7 billion (£5.2 billion) worth of damage was inflicted, a more realistic estimate is closer to $2 billion (£1.5 billion). Nevertheless, these aircraft were old Soviet-era stock — replacing them will be difficult for the Russian military, particularly given the supply chain issues caused by the war.
This has not gone unnoticed by Russia’s military bloggers, the vast majority of whom appear to be acknowledging the scale of the damage. One prominent pro-war milblogger, known as ‘Rybar’, criticised the special services on Telegram for failing to anticipate the attack and the army for insufficiently protecting the jets: ‘These losses cannot be restored. This is, without understatement, a very serious blow to the war’s strategic component.’
The blame game now underway in Russian milblogging circles will almost certainly be echoed within the Kremlin, undoubtedly intensified by the historic rivalry between the country’s army and special intelligence service FSB. They will have to answer to Putin at the very least on how so many drones managed to penetrate multiple military bases. What, if any, electronic warfare countermeasures were in place?
The timing and success of yesterday’s attack will bolster Zelensky ahead of today’s latest round of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul. Questions remain over whether the negotiations will proceed, not least because Russia has refused to publish its position paper detailing its demands prior to the meeting.
These drone attacks certainly place Moscow in a difficult position ahead of today’s talks. With Trump continuing to pressure both sides to reach a peace deal, the Kremlin faces a dilemma: raise the issue of the strikes, retaliate and risk escalating the conflict in a manner that might alienate Trump, or downplay them and pretend they never happened, risking accusations of weakness from Russia’s fervent ultranationalists and influential milbloggers.
After a dismal five months of being cajoled and coerced into negotiations with Russia, Zelensky can afford himself a moment of quiet pride: despite everything, Ukraine’s president still holds some cards against Putin.
Despite Trump’s Coercion, Zelenskyy Still Holds Cards Against Putin
Commentary, Politics, Ukraine and United States
During their confrontation in the Oval Office last February, Donald Trump infamously told his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, ‘You don’t have the cards’ to play against Russia. It now appears that Trump could not have been more mistaken if he tried. Yesterday, Ukraine executed a stunning and unexpected act of sabotage against Russia, directing a flotilla of explosive-laden drones at several airbases across the country.
Ukraine worked across three time zones to launch 117 drones, successfully destroying 41 nuclear-capable bomber jets at four air bases across Russia.
Dubbed ‘Operation Spider’s Web’, Ukraine coordinated efforts across three time zones to launch 117 drones, successfully destroying 41 nuclear-capable bomber jets at four airbases throughout Russia. The attacks covered the length of the country: two military bases in the Ivanovo and Ryazan regions — less than 200 miles from Moscow — were targeted, as was a base in the Arctic region of Murmansk, over 1,900 miles from Ukraine, and another in Siberia, over 3,400 miles from the conflict’s frontline. A fifth military base, located in the far eastern Amur region bordering China, was also targeted; however, the truck carrying the drones caught fire before deployment could take place.
According to Ukrainian officials, the operation took over 18 months to plan and was personally overseen by Zelensky. It was a complex mission with many moving parts: the drones and their storage crates had to be smuggled onto Russian soil and loaded into trucks. These trucks were driven close to the military bases and parked outside, before the roofs were reportedly removed remotely and the drones flown up and out towards their targets. Trump was reportedly not informed by Kyiv before the attacks took place.
Acknowledging the attacks in his nightly address yesterday, Zelensky declared the operation would ‘definitely appear in history books’. He said the operatives responsible for carrying out the attack had all safely returned to Ukrainian territory, although Russia claims to have arrested one of the men allegedly driving one of the trucks. In remarks sure to enrage the Kremlin even further, Zelensky revealed that ‘the “office” of our operation on Russian territory was located right next to the Russian FSB headquarters in one of their regions’.
Ukraine is naturally emphasising the attack’s devastating consequences for Russia’s ability to bombard them. There appears to be merit in this: the drone strikes primarily targeted Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers, which Russia has used to launch long-range missiles into Ukraine. After a weekend during which Ukraine again endured heavy bombardment — Moscow launched 472 drones and seven ballistic missiles at the country on Saturday night — this will provide a welcome morale boost.
Zelensky claimed that the strikes eliminated a very specific 34 per cent of Moscow’s strategic cruise missile carrier stock. While Kyiv asserts that about $7 billion (£5.2 billion) worth of damage was inflicted, a more realistic estimate is closer to $2 billion (£1.5 billion). Nevertheless, these aircraft were old Soviet-era stock — replacing them will be difficult for the Russian military, particularly given the supply chain issues caused by the war.
This has not gone unnoticed by Russia’s military bloggers, the vast majority of whom appear to be acknowledging the scale of the damage. One prominent pro-war milblogger, known as ‘Rybar’, criticised the special services on Telegram for failing to anticipate the attack and the army for insufficiently protecting the jets: ‘These losses cannot be restored. This is, without understatement, a very serious blow to the war’s strategic component.’
The blame game now underway in Russian milblogging circles will almost certainly be echoed within the Kremlin, undoubtedly intensified by the historic rivalry between the country’s army and special intelligence service FSB. They will have to answer to Putin at the very least on how so many drones managed to penetrate multiple military bases. What, if any, electronic warfare countermeasures were in place?
The timing and success of yesterday’s attack will bolster Zelensky ahead of today’s latest round of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul. Questions remain over whether the negotiations will proceed, not least because Russia has refused to publish its position paper detailing its demands prior to the meeting.
These drone attacks certainly place Moscow in a difficult position ahead of today’s talks. With Trump continuing to pressure both sides to reach a peace deal, the Kremlin faces a dilemma: raise the issue of the strikes, retaliate and risk escalating the conflict in a manner that might alienate Trump, or downplay them and pretend they never happened, risking accusations of weakness from Russia’s fervent ultranationalists and influential milbloggers.
After a dismal five months of being cajoled and coerced into negotiations with Russia, Zelensky can afford himself a moment of quiet pride: despite everything, Ukraine’s president still holds some cards against Putin.
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Published in Commentary, Politics, Ukraine and United States
Amnon J. Jobi is sole Editor in Chief at The Daily Reformer®. He writes like it is 1998.
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