Ukraine, by Blowing Up Bridges and Bombers, Dents Russia’s Status as World Military Power

Ukrainian frogmen reportedly attached underwater explosives that yesterday damaged Russia’s Crimea Bridge, a pet project of President Putin. The explosions forced the $4 billion, 12-mile bridge to close twice. The real damage may be yet another blow to Russia’s image as a military power. A video from the tightly protected bridge is going viral, showing an explosion shattering bridge pilings and sending a water spout rising in the air.The bridge bombing was the latest operation by Ukraine’s in its David v. Goliath war with Russia. This week, the world digests Sunday’s drone raids that damaged or destroyed Russian nuclear-capable bombers parked at bases as far away as Siberia and the Arctic. As satellite photographs come in, the explosions at five Russian bases are believed to have knocked out as much as 20 percent of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet.“Not in the Cold War, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Syria, or even the early years of this war has Russia suffered an airpower loss on this scale,” the Modern War Institute’s John W. Spencer said in a post. Writing from West Point, he said Sunday’s attacks resulted in the largest single-day destruction of Russian military aircraft since Germany’s Luftwaffe unleashed Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941. Forcing military war strategists the world over to update defense plans, Ukraine’s drone attack was not a conventional air force to air force attack. Not a single Ukrainian war plane was risked or lost. Instead, it was a 21st-century version of an old story — the Trojan Horse. Instead of Greek soldiers hidden inside a massive wooden horse, Ukraine’s attack involved 117 quadcopter drones hidden in false roof compartments of five truck trailers.In this image taken from video released June 1, 2025, a Ukrainian drone strikes Russian planes deep in Russia’s territory. Ukrainian Security Service via APBy paying unsuspecting Russian truck drivers to park their rigs within four miles of the base perimeters, the Ukrainians were able to use drones controlled through fiber optic cables. Not only do these thread-like umbilical cords provide deadly accuracy and clear vision, but they evade standard electronic warfare jamming.Opening up a whole new world for military defense, anything as prosaic as a truck trailer could contain a buzzing hive of bomb-carrying, battery-operated drones. Last year, the Pentagon warned in its annual report on Communist China’s military power: “It is possible [China] is developing a launcher that can fit inside a standard commercial shipping container for covert employment.”In the case of Russia, the world’s largest country, military planners have long believed in the nation’s strategic depth. Until Sunday, far-flung bases were safe enough to permit parking billions of dollars’ worth of war jets in the open air. Russian air defenses are designed to detect and shoot down Ukraine’s known drones — fixed-wing models with top ranges of 700 miles. As a result, Russia placed its valuable long-range bombers 1,000 miles or more away from Ukraine. To confuse any drone’s image recognition technology, decoy bombers are painted on tarmacs and tires are placed on bomber wings.“Nothing was done for the strategic fleet, even though these planes have long been out of production and losses can’t be replaced,” a Russian military blogger, Rybar, lamented, noting that Russia stopped making the affected line of Tupolev bombers in the 1990s. “The strike was a serious blow, and to suggest otherwise is self-delusion verging on sabotage.” Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers fly over the Kremlin during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at Moscow. AP/Pavel GolovkinSunday’s shock attack prompted very Russian reactions — denial, victimhood, and rage. Mr. Putin has not commented publicly on the attacks on the bombers or on the bridge, a construction project he personally inaugurated seven years ago. Taking cues from the Kremlin, two Russian state TV stations used 40-second segments about “terrorist attacks” to take care of Russia’s worst single-day loss of aircraft since World War II. Mr. Putin’s chief TV propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov, raged against an army draftee who filmed a selfie with a bomber burning in the background. Addressing the base commander, Mr. Solovyov raged: “Can he shoot this conscript? Bring this bastard out and simply shoot him in front of the ranks, as a traitor to the Motherland.” To cover up bad news, Russian officials routinely ask citizens not to film damage caused by Ukrainian drones.Taking another tack, several Russian officials complain that Ukraine does not fight fairly. If there are more attacks on Russia’s strategic air bases, a third round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks will not take place at Istanbul, the first deputy head of the Russian Duma’s foreign affairs committee, Aleksey Chepa, warned. The second meeting ended Monday with both parties miles apart, but Mr. Putin is believed to want to maintain the process to avoid retaliation by President Trump.Finally, the surprise attack was such a jolt that it provoked unvarnished candor from Russia’s former president, Dmitry A. Medvedev. “The Istanbul talks are not for striking a compromise peace on someone else’s delusional terms, but for ensuring our swift victory and the complete destruction of the neo-Nazi regime,” Mr. Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, posted on Telegram. “Everything that should explode will certainly explode. And those who should be exterminated will disappear.”Senators Blumenthal and Graham at Kyiv, May 30, 2025. AP/Vasilisa StepanenkoIn Washington, Senator Graham reacted on X: “Congratulations on a rare moment of honesty from Russia’s propaganda machine. I appreciate you making it clear to the world that Putin and Russia aren’t remotely interested in peace.” The Republican senator is pushing, with 81 co-sponsors, the “Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025,” a bill to slap 500 percent duties on imports from countries that buy oil, gas, or uranium from Russia. On Monday, Speaker Johnson threw his support behind this congressional effort. “There are many members of Congress that want us to sanction Russia as strongly as we can,” the Republican told reporters. “And I’m an advocate of that.”However, Mr. Trump has not taken a public stance on the bill. He also has not spoken publicly about Ukraine’a bombings of Russia’s air bases. Yesterday, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said that expanding sanctions against Russia is a decision for the president to make. She said: “He’s willing to use sanctions if he needs them, and the Senate and Capitol Hill understand that the president is commander-in-chief.”President Zelensky hints that more unwelcome surprises may be in store for the Kremlin. On Monday, shortly after the talks in Istanbul broke up, he said: “This time the Russians behaved a bit calmer, although still brazen. Maybe a few more measures are needed & they’ll try to behave like humans.”

Ukraine, by Blowing Up Bridges and Bombers, Dents Russia’s Status as World Military Power

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