Trump hailed Ukraine ‘Op Spiderweb' drone strikes as ‘badass' – but he fears Putin will ‘go crazy' after crunch call
DONALD Trump has hailed Ukraine's daring "Operation Spiderweb" attack as "strong and badass".
The US president heaped praise on Volodymyr Zelensky for his
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Donald Trump has hailed Ukraine's daring 'Operation Spiderweb' attack as 'strong and badass'
Credit: AFP
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Ukraine hit bombers at the Russian Belaya Air Base in Irkutsk
Credit: Social media
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Multiple aircraft were set ablaze at Belaya Air Base
Credit: East2West
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The Kremlin dictator held a
Top of the agenda was reportedly the 117 drone blitz over the weekend which left four of Russia's key airbases up in flames.
The daring Operation Spiderweb saw a fired up
Putin's
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Ukraine said the sneak attack was worth $7bn (£5.2bn) in damage to
Russia
.
Trump is believed to have been impressed by the cunning plot which took over 18 months to pull off under Zelensky's watchful eye.
One source revealed to
Another said the president "thought it was badass".
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Most read in The US Sun
A third
anonymous
confidant close to the Trump administration also praised the attack.
They said: "From an international perspective, you've got a chihuahua inflicting some real damage on a much bigger dog."
Clearest vid yet of daring Op Spiderweb shows 35 Ukrainian bomb drones blowing up plane after multimillion dollar plane
Despite receiving the impressive plaudits from their American allies, Trump also made it clear it will have only increased Putin's rage.
Trump reportedly told one source: "We want this war to end. We want it to de-escalate.
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"So if Putin goes crazy in response, yeah, the president has concerns."
A senior White House official has also spoken out since and said Trump won't be too happy about another escalation in the war.
"He wants the fighting to stop, so it disappoints him whenever there is an attack like that," they said.
Trump has spent the past few months since he returned to office trying to balance his relationship with both Moscow and Kyiv.
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In his latest attempt to draw both sides closer to a ceasefire he spoke with Putin over the phone.
Trump revealed that the despot made it clear he feels he 'will have to respond' to the audacious drone assault.
Inside Operation Spiderweb
By Foreign News Reporter, James Halpin
UKRAINE'S shock sleeper drone blitz on Russia's bomber fleet has delivered a hammer blow to Vladimir Putin's nuclear arsenal.
The SAS-style strike against
Volodymyr Zelensky oversaw Operation Spiderweb - much like Winston Churchill did as Britain struck deep behind enemy lines.
Putin's doomsday bomber fleet is now crippled with 41, or a third, of his most prized aircraft lying in smouldering wrecks on tarmac.
Ukraine said the sneak attack was worth $7bn (£5.2bn) in damage to Russia - caused by only 117 cheaply made drones.
Ukraine's spies spent 18 months putting the plan into action and struck on the eve of
The drones and the containers were smuggled into Russia separately and were pieced together right under Vlad's nose.
Clueless lorry drivers then parked the containers next to Russian airbases - where they sat and waited in plain sight.
Then, on the morning of June 1, the fleet of flying bombs rose over the far reaches of Russia - and the most daring military operation of the war began.
Nondescript shipping containers parked in laybys and verges had attracted little attention - before their lids blew open and the drone swarms poured out.
The craft buzzed as they took off into the air and only had to travel a short distance to their valuable targets.
Each of the 117 drones had their own dedicated pilot and Russia had little defences to protect their bases and stop them.
Drones with cameras sent video back to HQ in Ukraine of the moment craft struck their targets and explosions ripped into the sky.
Thick black smoke climbed high, with civilians near the bases sending video of Ukraine's successes around the world.
The furthest strike was Belaya Air Base - so far inside Russia that the closest neighbouring country is Mongolia.
Olenya Air Base near Finland and Ivanovo and Dyagilevo near Moscow were also struck in the country's west.
It comes as The Sun laid out the
The tyrant could retaliate with one of his terrifying tactical nukes, launch a deadly 7,600mph missile or even order a renewed 50,000 troop assault to
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The Kremlin gave a chilling response earlier today regarding how they may respond.
A spokesperson said: "Russian Federation will respond to the attack on airfields when and in the way that the military deems appropriate."
And overnight, Vlad already launched his first retaliatory
strikes
on several residential regions.
The worst saw a
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Two others were also found dead in Chernihiv with another 17 seriously wounded in Kharkiv.
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Trump also warned the attack has only made a raging Vladimir Putin even crazier
Credit: AP
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A satellite picture of the Belaya Airbase shows how a Russian bomber was left smashed to pieces after Ukraine's strikes
Credit: AFP
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Ukraine released photos of the drones in the crates taken from inside Russia
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The singer, 38, alleged Ventura, who said she did not want to engage in the sex acts, told the court her music career took a backseat due to the toll the orgies took on her day, testifying how she needed days at a time to recover. Prosecutors also released photos of the injuries Ventura allegedly suffered from Combs' years-long abuse, including a gash on her forehead that had become a permanent scar. Combs has remained mostly stone-faced in court as his lawyers insist he is innocent. The prosecution's case is slated to rest the week of June 9. If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) at 800-656-HOPE (4673). Diddy's charges explained by a lawyer Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani explained the set of charges Diddy is facing to The U.S. Sun: "Diddy is facing three charges, or three sets of charges. "The first is racketeering, which you typically see with organized crime enterprises - so the mob, cartels, street gangs -but we're seeing it a lot more in sex trafficking cases. "And you don't need an organization like the mob, as long as it's an enterprise, which is something that consists of two or more people, and they engage in two or more RICO predicate acts, that's enough for racketeering. "Racketeering is a powerful charge because it allows the government to bring in all sorts of evidence of criminal activity, as well as all sorts of people, into that racketeering conspiracy. "And anyone who's a co-conspirator, they're on the hook for any criminal acts committed in furtherance of the conspiracy. "The most serious charge, though, is sex trafficking. "What separates sex trafficking from normal sex? Adults, of course, can consent to any type of sex, no matter how freaky it is. But sex trafficking has one of three elements: force, fraud, or coercion. "And the government is saying that Diddy used force to force these men and women to participate in these freak-offs, and he coerced them by drugging them. "The least serious charge is the prostitution, sometimes called the Man Act, and that's engaging in prostitution using some sort of interstate commerce across state lines. That obviously is unlawful. "Typically, you don't see federal cases for prostitution only, which is why it's the least serious of the crimes." 5 Sean "Diddy" Combs attends the 2018 Fox Network Upfront at Wollman Rink, Central Park Credit: Getty 5 President Donald Trump has spoken of the possibility of pardoning Diddy who is on trial in New York Credit: AFP
