Trump admired Ukraine’s ‘Spider Web’ operation, told aides it was ‘pretty strong’
President Donald Trump admired Ukraine’s surprise drone attack over the weekend on Russia and called it ‘pretty strong’ and ‘badass’, Axios reported citing the president’s aides. But the president is worried as to what comes next as Russian President Vladimir Putin told him “very strongly” that there will be a counterattack. The Axios report said Trump has been surprisingly mum about Ukraine’s ‘ASprider Web’ operation but, in private, he marveled at the strength. One confidant told Axios that Trump told him that the attack was ‘pretty strong’. Another said Trump thought it was badass. “From an international perspective, you’ve got a chihuahua inflicting some real damage on a much bigger dog,” one adviser said. The attack would upset US’s mediation process, though it has not yielded anything closer to a ceasefire. “Unfortunately, Putin feels impunity. Even after all of Russia’s horrific attacks, he is reportedly preparing yet more so-called ‘responses.’ It means that with every new strike, with every delay of diplomacy, Russia is giving the finger to the entire world — to all those who still hesitate to increase pressure on it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on X Wednesday, in a subtle jab at Trump.On June 1, more than 100 drones from Ukraine struck air bases deep inside Russia in an operation called ‘Spider Web’ with explosions reported across several time zones deep inside Russia. The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the attacks had occurred in five regions of Russia – Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur – but stated planes had been damaged only in Murmansk and Irkutsk, while in other locations the attacks had been repelled.Zelenskyy debriefed about the operation that he directly supervised and said 117 drones were used in the attack and the operation took one year, six months and nine days to prepare. Russia has said it has detained people in connection with the attack, although Zelensky stated the people who had helped facilitate the operation “were withdrawn from Russian territory… they are now safe”.
