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Do you really think so???
quite overstated headline.

from https://www.thedailybeast.com/putins-whole-trump-strategy-is-in-tatters-after-epic-drone-humiliation/

Putin’s Whole Trump Strategy Is in Tatters After Epic Drone Humiliation
NOT DEAD YET
A sneak attack on deep-lying Russian airbases could help change the
course of the war with Ukraine.
Marcel Plichta
Marcel Plichta
Updated Jun. 2 2025 6:23PM EDT
Published Jun. 2 2025 10:04AM EDT
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Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin photo illustration
Photo Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
Vladimir Putin might have thought he had succeeded in persuading Donald
Trump that the Ukrainians had already lost the war against Russia. But
an ingenious sneak attack targeting Putin’s most prized military assets proves otherwise and has dealt a blow to Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

Using small quadcopter drones, the Ukrainian intelligence service SBU simultaneously struck multiple strategic bombers and early warning
aircraft at four separate airbases across the vast Russian landmass on
Sunday.

0:18
/
0:30
Ukraine Drone Attack. Russia locator map
Map Illustration by Eric Faison/The Daily Beast
The surprise attack is a military disaster and an embarrassment for the
Russian president as he looks to pressure the U.S. and others to give up
on Ukraine.

The nature of the clandestine operation would not go amiss in a later
Tom Clancy novel. Codenamed “Operation Spider-Web,” the SBU drones were hidden in unattended cargo containers near the bases and began launching themselves one after another at Russian planes, including Soviet-era
strategic bombers.

A bomber in flames at an air base in Siberia.
A bomber in flames at an air base in Siberia.
Ukraine Presidency via X
Footage posted to social media showed the cheap drones crashing into
Russian aircraft, some of which were already ablaze. Ukrainian officials released a statement claiming that “34 percent of strategic cruise
missile carriers at the main airfields of the Russian Federation were hit.”

Videos taken outside the base showed thick columns of smoke—and many of
those planes, including Soviet-era TU-95 and TU-22M bombers, looked to
be beyond repair.

Trump Goes Nuclear on Putin ‘Playing With Fire’
I'M WARNING YOU!
Sarah Ewall-Wice
President Donald Trump blasted Vladimir Putin as "playing with fire" on
social media on Tuesday after delivers remarks on Memorial Day on May
26, 2025.
Russia’s bomber fleet serves several purposes. Since 2022 it has been
one of the main tools for Russian missile strikes at Ukrainian cities.

The bombers also serve a more vital purpose for Russia: as one of the
main components of Russia’s nuclear deterrent alongside their nuclear missiles and submarines.

Until now, Ukraine has only managed to down a few bombers. The reported
loss of 40 or more planes in a single day does not amount to the
destruction of Russia’s entire bomber fleet, but it is a significantly
larger blow to their inventory, and their pride.


Ukraine has struck nuclear-related early warning radar installations
before, but Russia’s nuclear capabilities have never been called into question at this scale since the full-scale Russian invasion of 2022.

Just as important is the claim that the attack struck one or more of
Russia’s A-50 early warning aircraft. These planes, while unarmed, are equipped with powerful radars that serve as the eyes and ears of the
Russian air force, similar to the U.S. AWACS planes.

Worse still, Russia likely only has five such aircraft operational after Ukraine reportedly shot down two of them in early 2024. If any of them
are even temporarily unavailable, it could change Russia’s air
operations and reduce their awareness of Ukrainian air defense and their ability to find targets for the air force to bomb.

Panicking Putin Propagandists Censor Trump’s Outburst
IN A SPIN
Julia Davis
A photo illustration of President Donald Trump and President Putin and a
man jumping in front to censor the world bubble saying, "Crazy."
The strike, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said was 18
months in the planning, is a disaster for Russia as it seeks to promote
a sense of strength ahead of another round of negotiations with Ukraine
in Istanbul beginning Monday.

Putin had a lot to brag about in theory: The new U.S. administration is seemingly scared of punishing Russia for its attacks on civilians, his
forces are pushing to take more Ukrainian territory, and he has
dramatically increased the scale of drone attacks against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Now, the narrative of the conflict has temporarily shifted to Ukraine’s
side. Even if an operation as complex as “Spider’s Web” cannot be replicated in the near term, Russia will still need to plan for
contingencies and contend with Ukraine’s long-range drones, which
routinely target Russian airfields.

Zelensky celebrated the attack with the head of Ukraine's Security Service. Ukraine Presidency via X
How Russia will respond to the attack is an open question. Russian media
is attempting to downplay or ignore the damage, but footage of the
attacks is already widely available on social media.

Historically, the way Russia regains the narrative in the war is to
punitively bomb Ukrainian civilians. The very first drone attack on
Ukraine’s cities came after Kyiv successfully bombed the Russian-built
bridge connecting Crimea to Russia.

Russia has already been scaling up its drone attacks on Ukrainian towns
and cities, but Putin may opt to launch an even larger large salvo of
missiles and drones to show the Russian bomber fleet is not entirely out
of the fight.

Pope Urges Trump to Hurry Up and Do Something About Putin
PAPAL PLEA
Leigh Kimmins
Pope Leo XIV blesses to the crowd during the weekly general audience at
St Peter's Square at the Vatican on May 28, 2025.
Politically, Putin could try to use the strike to drive a deeper wedge
between the U.S. and Ukraine, but it’s unlikely to work.

The White House claimed that they were not warned of the attack, but the
mood in the White House has also seemingly shifted from blaming Ukraine
to pleading with Russia to cease bombing Ukraine and work towards peace.

These factors make it more likely that the U.S. will prove indifferent
to the strike.

Belaya, June 1, 2025, operation Spiderweb, another footage pic.twitter.com/QIcrkpU5EN

— IgorGirkin (@GirkinGirkin) June 2, 2025
For Russia, there is no silver bullet to protect its airbases from
future acts of sabotage. The Kremlin cannot simply move all of its
aircraft out of range—one of the bases struck was thousands of miles
from the Ukrainian border.

They could redouble their efforts to build hardened shelters for their aircraft, but those will still take a while to finish. Or they could
increase the number of air defense systems and jammers at their bases,
at the risk of disrupting operations and diverting sorely needed
counter-drone systems from the front line.

Whatever course the Russian military takes, they will have now to deal
with the constant fear that Ukrainian drones will be over their heads.

Marcel Plichta
Marcel Plichta
Plichta_Marcel
plichta.marcel@gmail.com

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