Image from YouTube (Video uploaded by Sky News)
A web, or a trail to Armageddon?
The news media is agog with the glorious success of Operation Spiderweb – drones sent deep inside Russia to damage 41 planes. Ukraine claims that these were A-50 surveillance planes, the supersonic Tu-160 and Tu-22 bombers, and the massive Tu-95s, which were developed to carry nuclear bombs and now launch cruise missiles.
The damage is estimated to be $7 billion. The targets reached inside Russia included Belaya airbase over 4,000km) from Ukraine, and three other distant airbases. The complex operation was planned in secret, over 18 months.
It was such a clever operation, involving smuggling of drones into Russia and placing them inside containers, which were later loaded on to trucks. Remotely activated mechanisms opened the containers allowing the drones to fly out and make their distant attack.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the “absolutely brilliant” Ukrainian drone attack – “produced by Ukraine independently.”
Wow! We’re all delighted, aren’t we, at this surprise, this ingenuity, done all alone by Ukraine – such a demonstration of how the clever Ukrainians will beat the stupid boorish Russians?
There are just a few questions that I would like to see posed, in the corporate media.
I hardly know where to start. Can we believe that:
The jubilation of the media seems to completely ignore Russia’s stated policy on its use of nuclear weapons, updated in 2024 – nuclear weapons would be authorised for use in response to:
“… attack by [an] adversary against critical governmental or military sites of the Russian Federation, disruption of which would undermine nuclear forces response actions.”
We don’t know how Russia will respond to this remarkable and unprecedented attack.
We don’t know how President Trump will respond.
What is clear is that the Istanbul peace talks have been wrecked, and a whole new phase now opens in the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It started out with the intention of a limited attack – the Russians still call it a Special Military Operation. Now Putin has no other option than to declare it a full scale war.
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An invaded people defending their existence, their future, their children's future are entitled to hit their aggressors' military targets (air force used to bomb their homes, hospitals, schools) as and when they can. The brutal genocidal barbarians must be defeated.
Oh marvellous. Never a word about Putin breaking every ceasefire they've negotiated to date, but Zelenskyy's in the wrong because this operation might imperil talks.
If I rolled my eyes any harder, they'd fall out.
This is terribly dangerous. Such an attack deep inside Russian Territory cannot be ignored by Russia. The consequences will be enormous, and may quickly involve other European countries. To say it is OK as the previous commenters have, as they simplify the situation into Ukrainian goodies and Russian baddies, ignores the follow-on effects that can be expected to have worldwide implications.
I'm not downplaying it; I'm pointing out the unevenness of commentary on the actions of the two sides.
Several points to consider about the Ukraine attack within Russian territory:
1. Zelensky has admitted that this project took 18 months of careful planning before execution.
2. That puts this within the Biden administrations' time in the Whitehouse. Maybe Biden didn't know about it - maybe he was cognitively unaware even if he was informed.
3. Anthony Blinken Victoria Nuland and Jake Sullivan must have known about it - maybe they were involved with the planning and infrastructure required.
4. If the above didn't know before hand what about the CIA, Pentagon special operations and maybe collaboration with UK's MI6 and Israel's Mossad? All three have collaborated on clandestine projects in the past and all have previously indicated disdain and contempt towards Russia.
5. If Trump wasn't told - why and for what reason?
6. If Trump was informed beforehand why didn't he react to prevent interference with peace talks in Istanbul?
7. If Zelensky knew about this before when he was in the Whitehouse did Trump and Vance know also and thus admonish Zelensky for his plea for USA to provide more military assistance?
8. Did NATO know?
9. If Trump did not know he must now review the actions and loyalty of the CIA Chief, Head of National Security and top Pentagon officials in order to reasonably claim plausible deniability.
10. Russia may be embarrassed at this lapse of security - USA is certainly humiliated in their apparent bewilderment and confusion.
Well done Zelensky, keep it going as long as you possibly can.
I`m sure those who voted you into power based on how you would bring peace are happy with the situation, but best to smother any adverse civilian comment.
USA was going to back you to weaken the Ruskies, but that seems to have fallen apart.
Keep the war hot because we are all learning what to expect in novel ways to win. Australia is keeping a close watch so that we could put together a defence policy now we know the Yanks have deserted us. We are wrapped in all that drone stuff which will blend so well with our phantom submarines.
NATO has Europe fearfull so the membership will grow, and USA will continue to make a living selling war stuff, but we need you to stay in the fray.
It is ridiculous to suggest that targeting military operations "sabotaged" the peace talks.
Just about every day Russia sends missiles into Ukrainian cities, killing civilians.
The fact is that it is Putin who continually demonstrates a commitment to indiscriminate killing to undermine peace and Ukrainian morale
AC, I could be wrong but I understood that Ukrainians were prevented from speaking to Russia thanks to a law that their president decreed.
Very early in the special mission Putin declared conditions for a peace, and those conditions have not really changed.
The delay in peace seems to stem from Ukrainian muteness, and arms suppliers urging Zelensky to maintain status Quo.
"Special mission"
That's a neat little term to describe invading a neighbourng country.
The power of Western propaganda really is remarkable.
Sensational.
Hypnotic, as Harold Pinter described it.
A few days after the war started, an opinion piece that was highly critical of Russia's action was published here, to which leefe responded -- I am so over people constantly ignoring the (USA-led) NATO provocation involved in the Ukrainian situation.
Well leefe, I'm still "so over" people ignoring the NATO provocation.