British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the United Kingdom will build new nuclear submarines and a war-ready army in Europe, increasing defense spending to send a message to Moscow and Washington. Starmer said the United Kingdom “cannot ignore the threat posed by Russia.”
Reactions to the spectacular Ukrainian operation called “Spider Web”, in which up to 41 Russian aircraft were allegedly destroyed, are not abating. According to Kiev’s claims, the operation by the Security Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SBU), which, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed, was planned for exactly one year, six months and nine days, destroyed up to 34 percent of the Russian strategic bomber fleet.
In the attack, which Zelensky said would go down in history books, The Economist completely changed the rules of war, and which some commentators called the “Russian Pearl Harbor,” 117 drones were launched from wooden containers on trucks that were brought near airports, the damage caused to Russian strategic aviation is estimated at around seven billion dollars, and angry pro-war Russian military bloggers are already widely commenting that it is a great shame and a failure of intelligence, military and security services.
NUCLEAR RESPONSE
Russian bloggers and state media also attempted to portray the Ukrainian attacks on legitimate Russian military targets as undermining Russian nuclear stability and the basis for a Russian nuclear response, echoing the Kremlin’s wartime rhetoric about nuclear weapons intended to deter Western support for Ukraine. Moscow’s state media outlet Moskovskii Komsomolets highlighted claims by Russian political scientist Sergei Markov that the Ukrainian attacks on air bases in Russia constitute the basis for the use of nuclear weapons under Russian nuclear doctrine, because the attacks target Russia’s strategic nuclear potential.
Many military bloggers make similar claims about Russia’s nuclear doctrine and specifically call on the Kremlin to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine in response to the attacks. Leading US military experts also spoke about the Ukrainian operation, which Zelensky says will be studied in history books and claims was planned by an “office” on Russian territory, right next to the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in one of the Russian Regions.
NATO WARNING
Retired US Navy Admiral James Stavridis, who served as NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, has “invented” Vladimir Putin. “Vlad is having a really bad day,” he wrote on X, adding: “You reap what you sow, Putin.” Speaking to CNN, Stavridis called the Ukrainian attack on the Russian strategic bombers’ sources “extraordinary” and a kind of “Trojan horse” operation. “Those wooden containers that they brought into the country, and suddenly the attack starts from them, the fighters that destroy all those planes, none of them are human beings. It’s really an extraordinary military feat,” Stavridis said. Sources in US President Donald Trump’s administration told CBS on Sunday that the White House was not aware of the attack coming. The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed the Ukrainian drone attack on several airports across the country and claimed that no military personnel or civilians were killed, as reported by the Russian news agency Tass.
BRITAIN’S DRASTIC CHANGE
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the United Kingdom will build new nuclear submarines and a war-ready army in Europe, increasing defense spending to send a message to Moscow, but also to Washington. Starmer said that the United Kingdom “cannot ignore the threat posed by Russia” and announced that his government was undertaking the most extensive changes to British defense policy since the end of the Cold War. When it comes to some specific examples of investment, he announced the construction of six new ammunition factories, up to 12 new nuclear submarines, at a rate of one submarine every 18 months, investing 15 billion pounds (18 billion euros) in the nuclear program, the design and production of new long-range missiles and investment in the country’s air and missile defense systems, as reported by Sky News.
