Berlin, Germany (Weltexpress). There is no doubt that Ukraine’s drone attack on strategically important Russian airports was impressive. But it does nothing to change developments on the battlefield, where Russia continues to advance ever faster and maintain its tactical advantages and material superiority.
If we disregard the usual exaggerations by Zelensky and their echo in the Western media and focus on an assessment of the war in Ukraine that is free of wishful thinking, i.e. based on reality, Ukraine’s tactically impressive drone attack has not changed the strategic development of the war.
The Ukrainian “Operation Spiderweb” targeted five Russian air forces spread across the vast country. However, targets were reportedly only destroyed at three bases, where 13 strategic bombers belonging to the Russian nuclear deterrent triad are said to have been destroyed or damaged.
Zelensky’s claims, supported by Western media, have apparently exaggerated the success of “Spiderweb”, as satellite images taken after the attack refute the initially reported destruction of 41 aircraft. The images circulating on the Internet even show only 7 clearly destroyed aircraft.
Head-shaking questions as to why the valuable strategic bombers were not in hangars or covered with camouflage nets were answered yesterday in a video discussion shown on YouTube by former high-ranking CIA analyst Larry Johnson. He pointed out that with this behavior, the Russians are still complying with the provisions of the strategic nuclear arms control treaty START II, according to which the nuclear-capable bombers must always be parked in a location visible to US satellites.
While Zelensky celebrated “Spiderweb” as a turning point in the war, neutral Western observers such as ex-CIA man Johnson or ex-US Colonel Danny Daniels assume in their comments that the bomber losses have hit the Russians hard, but that these losses would not affect the attacks and the continuation of the war. Since October 2023, Russia has been steadily gaining ground, while Ukraine regularly suffers from increasing shortages of personnel and weapons.
One day after the success of “Spiderweb”, Zelensky rushed to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to bathe in the glory of his imminent victory over Russia in a speech to the regional heads of state and the NATO Secretary General at the summit of the Bucharest Nine and the Nordic countries.
Zelensky described the operation as a turning point: “We have reached a special moment, and the events of Operation Spiderweb were extraordinarily successful and are forcing Russia to make peace.
This is the usual crap that comes from Zelensky when he opens his mouth. Firstly, the “Spiderweb” attacks have changed nothing in the balance of power between Ukraine and Russia and, secondly, they have certainly not brought peace in Ukraine any closer; on the contrary. This was a clear provocation, above all because of the simultaneous terrorist attack on the Russian passenger train, in which a bridge was blown up at the exact moment that the debris crushed the train underneath. The victims, dead and injured, were all civilians.
Zelensky has thus succeeded in increasing public pressure on Putin and the government in Russia to take a tougher stance against Ukraine. This also includes demands to finally declare war on Ukraine and to stop treating it with kid gloves within the legal framework of a special military operation. Zelenky’s “Spiderweb” success may yet turn into a Pyrrhic victory.
Zelensky continued at the summit in Vilnius: “We have reached a special moment. On the one hand, Russia has launched its summer offensive, on the other hand, they are forced to engage in diplomacy. This is both a challenge and a real opportunity for all of us to end the war.
Zelensky’s claim that the attacks forced Russia to negotiate is another lie that the Western media are happy to buy. In fact, Vladimir Putin initiated the Istanbul talks on May 11, 2025, i.e. after Zelensky’s demand for a 30-day ceasefire.
Russia has been seeking negotiations since 2014, most recently in early March 2022, shortly after the start of the special operation that led to promising negotiations in Istanbul, which were immediately torpedoed by the intervention of the British and Americans because they wanted to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine. In addition, after the first Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul in 2022, Zelensky passed a law banning talks with Putin under threat of prison sentences.
Next, Zelensky tried to suck up to his Western backers and arms suppliers by emphasizing Western superiority in Vilnius: “Europe, together with America, has better weapons than Russia. We also have stronger tactical solutions. Operation Spiderweb proved yesterday that Russia must feel what losses mean. That will drive it towards diplomacy.”
At the same time, he presented Ukraine as the defender of Europe without contradiction: “If Russia suffers losses in this war, it is obvious that Ukraine is not only standing up for itself, but for the whole of Europe.”
These statements were also typical Zelensky exaggerations, which contradicted the Russian successes observed along all sections of the 1200-kilometer-long front, e.g. in the Sumy, Kharkov and Zaporozhye regions.
But all of this was just Zelensky’s prelude to getting to his real concern, which is: more money and more weapons. He does not have enough of either if Ukraine is to continue defending Europe. Zelensky emphasized his dependence on the West: “Ukraine can cover up to 40 percent of its arms requirements through its own production, but this requires stable financing. Our operations show how much influence investments, especially in drones, can have. We urgently need air defense, especially Patriot systems and missiles for them. Each of you knows what we need and how you can help.”
This shows that, at best, 60 percent of Ukraine’s military needs are dependent on Western aid, which is exacerbated by continuing and increasing losses. Knowing Zelensky, he has certainly exaggerated the 40 percent self-production figure. At the same time, Western arms depots are empty and Western arms manufacturers would need years and a lot of money to even come close to covering Ukraine’s shortfall.
A good example of the gravity of the situation Ukraine finds itself in is Kiev’s increasingly desperate demands for Patriot air defense systems. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently explained at a hearing before the US Congress, when asked why Ukraine’s requests were being ignored, that the US no longer has any surplus Patriot units, and European NATO allies are equally reluctant to supply systems like Patriot because otherwise they themselves would be left “naked” in an emergency.
Commenting on the second round of the new Istanbul talks, Selenskij said at the summit in Vilnius: “Our delegation is now in Istanbul and we are ready to take the necessary steps for peace. Of course, the starting points should be a ceasefire and humanitarian measures, the release of prisoners and the return of abducted children. All important issues can be resolved at leadership level. If Russia itself undermines this initial agenda and the Istanbul meeting achieves nothing, it clearly means that strong new sanctions are urgently needed.”
This part of Zelensky’s speech is a clear attempt to pressure US President Donald Trump into sanctions against Russia and more support for Ukraine if the talks fail. It must have been clear to Zelensky even before his trip to Vilnius that, following Operation Spiderweb and the simultaneous terrorist operation against the passenger train exactly one day before the peace talks in Istanbul, the conference was doomed to fail even before the meeting.
The Ukrainian conditions, in particular the maintenance of mobilization, rejection of demilitarization and denazification, refusal of territorial concessions, are also unacceptable to Russia and aimed at a failure of the talks. Simultaneous drone attacks and attacks on Russian civilian trains make a diplomatic solution increasingly unlikely.
In line with Western strategy, Zelensky is thus pursuing the goal of prolonging the war, whereby he continues to be supported by European politicians with enthusiastic rhetoric, albeit with less material aid. Chancellor Merz is the exception here, because he wants to make Germany the leading anti-Russian power in the EU. To this end, all Germans are being asked to make material sacrifices by completely foregoing cheap Russian energy and fertilizers etc. in future.
And how will the war in Ukraine continue? What the Russian UN ambassador confirmed last week in the UN Security Council describes the further course of events as follows: Russia will enforce its demands through negotiations or defeat the “Zelensky regime” militarily. Period!
