Ukraine's massive drone attack deep inside Russia lays bare Putin's vulnerability

4 days ago 5

It was a stunning, audacious attack whose wide effects are lone conscionable becoming clear.

Ukraine managed to smuggle 117 aerial drones connected the backs of trucks that deposited them astatine the perimeter of 4 Russian aerial bases — 1 of them heavy wrong Siberia immoderate 2,500 miles from Ukraine's borders, according to Ukrainian officials.

While determination are differing accounts connected the grade of the ensuing harm of Sunday’s “Spiderweb” operation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 40 Russian craft — 34% of Russia's strategical cruise rocket carriers — were hit. Ukraine's information service, the SBU, enactment the estimated outgo to the Kremlin astatine $7 billion.

Some subject commentators and pro-Russian bloggers person called it the country's "Pearl Harbor" — a notation to Japanese onslaught successful 1941 that saw the United States participate World War II.

It came Sunday, a time earlier the latest circular of nonstop bid talks betwixt Ukraine and Russia connected Monday.

There was small optimism for diplomatic progress adjacent earlier the strike, with Ukraine sending its defence minister, Rustem Umerov, but Russia lone dispatching the acold much inferior Putin aide, Vladimir Medinsky, to the Çırağan Palace successful Istanbul. The talks were acceptable to statesman astatine 1 p.m. section clip (6 a.m. ET).

A acold much apt result is Russia continuing to weaponry Ukrainian civilians — this clip nether the pretext of retaliation, "even though successful world these strikes are planned agelong successful advance,” said Keir Giles, a elder consulting chap with the London-based think-tank Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia program.

Less hard to quantify volition beryllium the immense stroke to Vladimir Putin's pride, with Western analysts successful statement that this was a humiliation for the Russian president.

“At a clip erstwhile Putin seems to deliberation that helium is winning connected the battlefield, this demonstrates that his forces are successful information precise vulnerable,” said Sven Biscop, a manager astatine the Egmont Institute, a deliberation vessel successful Brussels. “This whitethorn not alteration the people of the war, but it does mean that each summation Russia makes volition beryllium astatine precocious cost.”

He added it was “quite amazing” that “a important portion of their bomber force” could “be destroyed similar that.”

head of the Security Service Vasyl Malyuk studies a photograph of a representation of Russia's strategical aviation location

The onslaught took a twelvemonth and a fractional to plan, according to Zelenskyy, and played retired connected the eve of the latest circular of bid talks betwixt Ukraine and Russia successful Istanbul, Turkey.

It's inactive unclear what interaction the surgical onslaught volition person connected Monday's negotiations, hopes for which were already dim acknowledgment to the heavy divisions betwixt the positions of Kyiv and Moscow. Ukraine says it is acceptable to motion an unconditional 30-day ceasefire; Russia is fundamentally demanding Ukraine's surrender.

Brokering the talks, President Donald Trump has shifted from the unambiguously pro-Ukrainian stance of his predecessor, President Joe Biden, and offered concessions to the Kremlin that person outraged galore successful the West.

At the aforesaid time, helium accused Putin past week of going “absolutely crazy” by continuing to motorboat regular attacks connected Ukraine civilians. Ultimately helium has threatened to locomotion distant from the bid talks if they bash not output the results helium erstwhile promised helium would execute successful conscionable 24 hours.

Indeed, overnight into Sunday Russia launched immoderate 500 onslaught drones into Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. The nighttime adjacent came 84 more, with astatine slightest 10 radical killed and dozens much injured crossed the country, Ukraine's Air Force said.

Other pro-Russia observers are calling for adjacent much drastic measures.

“We anticipation that the effect volition beryllium the aforesaid arsenic the U.S. effect to the onslaught connected Pearl Harbor, oregon adjacent tougher,” said 1 Russian subject blogger, Roman Alekhin, connected the messaging app Telegram.

Another pro-war Telegram channel, Dva Mayora, added that it was “a crushed to motorboat atomic strikes connected Ukraine" — a menace often made by Putin since launching the penetration 3 years ago.

“We tin expect a large woody of dependable and fury from Moscow,” Giles said. Russia “will beryllium moving hard connected convincing the United States to effort to rein Ukraine in, successful bid to forestall immoderate further harm to Russia’s means of bombarding Ukrainian cities with agelong scope missiles,” helium added.

“In a way, the much important question is however the United States reacts, and however anxious it is to instrumentality Moscow‘s broadside and constrain Ukraine,” helium said.

Alexander Smith reported from London and Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv.