Ukraine's Historic Attack on Russia's Air Bases

What you need to know about this attack and how to tell if your favorite conservative influencer is a good source of news about Ukraine.

Last night, in one of the most impressive military operations in history, the Ukrainian security services (SBU) used 117 drones, likely costing less than $100,000, to take out 41 Russian military aircraft, valued at around $7 billion. This audacious attack reduced the number of Russian planes capable of delivering nuclear missiles by 30%, making the world safer than any arms control treaty in recent memory. More importantly for the Ukrainians, these are also the jets that deliver missiles targeted at Ukrainian civilians.

Many of my conservative friends in the USA tell me that they don’t know who to believe about what is happening in Ukraine. This is easy to understand, as many previously trustworthy conservative voices are making hyperbolic accusations against Ukraine and telling conservatives that Russia is the good guy. Or at least that Russia and Ukraine are each so bad that the USA should wash its hands of both of them.

Here is a simple way to tell if your favorite conservative influencer is worthy of your trust or is just cramming propaganda down your throat.

If you hear an influencer say that Zelensky is trying to derail peace talks, listen very closely to what comes next. If they don’t tell you this, then they are probably not a trustworthy source of news.

The night before Ukraine’s attacks on four Russian air bases, Russia launched 472 Iranian-made Shaheed drones against Ukrainian civilians, a new record. The previous record was set on May 26, with 355 drones attacking civilians in Ukraine, prompting President Trump to post on Truth Social:

I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.

The May 26 attacks broke the previous record set by Putin on May 25 with 298 drones attacking civilian targets in Ukraine.

The original record during the second Trump era was set just a few days after President Trump won the election. On November 10, a then-record 145 drones launched at civilian targets in Ukraine. Prior to Trump’s re-election, there were only three nights when the number of Iranian-made Shaheed drones eclipsed 100.

Also worth noting that around election day, Olga Skabeyeva, known as “The Iron Doll of Putin Propaganda,” welcomed President Trump back to the White House by airing nude pictures of the First Lady on national TV in Russia.

Back to the drones. In almost every drone strike against Ukrainian civilians, Putin has sent more Iranian-made Shaheed drones to kill Ukrainian civilians than the previous drone strike.

If your favorite conservative influencer tells you that Zelensky is derailing peace talks by hitting military targets deep inside Russia, but neglects to tell you that Putin has been escalating the severity of drone strikes against Ukrainian civilians for months, this is probably not someone you can trust to give you accurate news.

Putin only respects strength. Zelensky is now negotiating from a position of strength.

The other thing to notice here is that Ukraine is targeting military targets in Russia, while Putin is targeting civilians in his attacks on Ukraine. This is how the attacks have broken down during the entire war.