Months after US President Donald Trump berated him at the White House for not having any cards, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy played his cards on Sunday.
In an audacious attack with no precedent in the world, Ukraine struck five airbases and possibly a submarine base as well across the length and breadth of Russia — including in the far-off Siberia. With 117 drones, Ukraine destroyed nearly a third of Russia’s long-range, nuclear-capable bombers and airborne early warning and command (AEWAC) fleets.
With Operation Spider Web, Ukraine reminded the world that the war is far from being decided and Ukraine is far from being defeated. In the David versus Goliath face-off, Ukraine has shown it has mastered asymmetric warfare and has the ability to impose costs despite its adversary having superiority in every domain.Even though Trump has for months parroted Russian talking points that Ukraine is on the brink of defeat, the situation on the ground is a stalemate at best and, at worst, costs far outweigh the benefits for Russia.
Neither side currently holds a decisive upper hand in the battlefield and Russia’s incremental gains and Ukraine’s resilient defence signal not victory, but a prolonged stalemate, says Shreya Sinha, a European affairs scholar at Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF)
Facts in face: Russia has gained just 1 per cent of Ukrainian territory since January 2024.
Zelenskyy destroys Russian invincibility — and asserts Ukraine’s resilience
For months, visuals of Ukrainian neighbourhoods in Russian airstrikes and the sting of betrayal as the principal ally, the United States, appeared to switch allegiance to the adversary, had dominated the news cycle. But that was until Sunday.
Since Sunday, visuals of Ukrainian drones flying out of trucks and destroying Russian aircraft have dominated the news cycle as well as deliberations of strategists across the world as Ukraine ushered the world into a new age of modern warfare with the attack.
Suddenly, Russia is no longer as invincible as Vladimir Putin had been portraying and not as victorious as Trump had been saying.
“Ukraine’s drone strikes have communicated the nation’s resilience and innovation, challenging assumptions about asymmetry in capability. In a non-kinetic warfare paradigm, Ukraine has not only held ground but also reinvented itself as a formidable actor in drone-based hybrid warfare, shaping perceptions globally,” says Sinha, an Associate Fellow of European studies at the Delhi-based think tank VIF.
