Putin Suffers His Worst Week of 2025

Newsweek

a day ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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"God loves the Trinity," said Ukrainian intelligence chief Vasyl Malyuk, in a boast about Kyiv's third Kerch Bridge attack but he could also have been talking about the number of setbacks Russian President Vladimir Putin has been dealt in recent days.
Malyuk said Tuesday's strike on the bridge linking Crimea with Russia was months in the planning and came on the heels of a drone operation, which Kyiv said had taken out a third of Russia's aircraft bomber fleet.
Ukraine's drone strike had left Kremlin officials "angry and alarmed" over the vulnerability of a nuclear-capable air fleet far from the battlefield, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, Russia's investigative committee has launched a terrorism investigation into the collapse of two bridges in the border region following incidents likely to heap pressure on the Russian president.
"It's certainly a bad week for the Russian people and for the Russian military," retired U.S. Vice Admiral Robert Murrett told Newsweek.
Putin has had several bad weeks during his full-scale invasion, such as the destruction of the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva in April 2022, Russia's retreat from Kherson in November that year and Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region in August 2024.
Oleg Ignatov from the International Crisis Group told Newsweek this week's incidents delivered the worst setback for Putin for 2025 in terms of military damage and the impact on public morale.
Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
This image from 2016 shows Russian President Vladimir Putin outside of Moscow.
This image from 2016 shows Russian President Vladimir Putin outside of Moscow.Why It Matters
Ukraine's drone attacks on military airfields deep inside Russian territory and the targeting of the bridge, which serves as a symbol of Moscow's occupation of Crimea, delivers a PR boost and possible leverage for Kyiv amid peace talks that the Russian president has been accused of stalling.
What To Know
Overnight Saturday, two bridges collapsed in Russia's western regions bordering Ukraine, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, according to local authorities.
It is not clear whether what their causes are or if the two collapses are even linked or but Russia's investigative committee said they were being investigated as potential terrorist attacks.
Ignatov, senior Crisis Group analyst for Russia, said Ukraine was likely behind sabotage attacks targeting the bridges although Kyiv has not commented on the incidents.
In one incident in Bryansk's Vygonichi district, about 60 miles from the Ukrainian border, a road bridge gave way crushing the moving train underneath and injuring at least 66 people, Russian authorities reported. Bryansk's governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said the bridge had been "blown up."
In another incident overnight into Sunday, a bridge collapsed in the Kursk region as a freight train was passing over it, injuring one of the drivers, according to the acting governor of the region.
In a third incident that night, a Russian military freight train was blown up near the occupied city of Melitopol in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, according to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.
Operation Spiderweb
On the eve of talks in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) launched a drone attack across Russia.
Targeted were the Olenya air base in Russia's Murmansk region, the Diaghilev airbase in the Ryazan region, the Ivanovo air base in Ivanovo region and the Belaya air base in the Irkutsk region over 2,500 miles from the Ukraine border.
Dubbed Operation Spiderweb, the attacks 18 months in the planning saw 117 drones launched from concealed trucks, hit 41 aircraft, disabled a third of Russia's strategic bomber fleet and inflicted $7 billion damage, according to Kyiv.
Zev Faintuch, head of research and intelligence at international security firm Global Guardian, told Newsweek the operation was a huge intelligence coup and probably not a one-off.
He said this operation can be seen as an opening move in a strategic campaign involving deception, covert prepositioning and strategic psychological warfare.
Ukraine may have many more of these prepositioned containers ready with hundreds or thousands of drones for subsequent attacks, and even if it didn't, the Russians are now on the lookout, Faintuch added.
Murrett, deputy director of the Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law, told Newsweek that from a tactical military standpoint, they were very effective attacks that had dealt a significant blow to Moscow's military machine.
He said Ukraine is demonstrating new tactics and what he describes as 21st-century war fighting that has an impact far beyond their borders.
Sources close to Russian officials told Bloomberg that damage inflicted on the warplanes including targets on Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3 bombers "is likely to rattle decision makers around Putin."
Kerch Bridge Attack
A day after the Russian drone operation, Malyuk, chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said his agents had mined the supports of the Kerch bridge which is a critical supply and transport route for Moscow's forces.
He suggested the structural integrity of the bridge is in a critical condition after 1,100 kilograms (nearly 2,500 pounds) of explosives in TNT equivalent were detonated in the early hours of Tuesday.
Imagery captured on June 3, 2025, by the U.S. satellite firm Planet shows Russia's Olenya air base, one of five bomber bases targeted by a Ukrainian drone raid on June 1, 2025.
Imagery captured on June 3, 2025, by the U.S. satellite firm Planet shows Russia's Olenya air base, one of five bomber bases targeted by a Ukrainian drone raid on June 1, 2025.
Planet Labs PBC
The SBU released an image of the bridge which did not indicate damage to the roadway. Russian opposition outlets pro-Russian milbloggers circulated footage which showed another naval drone strike against the bridge on Tuesday afternoon.
Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope for Ukraine, which provides aid to the war-torn country said that the drone attacks and the Kerch Bridge explosion had undermined Putin's image.
"The damage that was done on Sunday to the Russian Air Force could only be possible with tactical nuclear weapons," he told Newsweek, adding that the biggest headache for the Kremlin now was to figure out if other military sites are vulnerable to further Ukrainian attack.
What People Are Saying
Ukrainian intelligence chief Vasyl Malyuk: "God loves the Trinity, and the SBU always finishes what it starts. We struck the Crimean Bridge in 2022 and 2023. Today, we continued this tradition—this time underwater."
Robert Murrett, retired U.S. Vice Admiral: "Putin's had several bad weeks. It's certainly a bad week for the Russian people and for the Russian military."
Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of nonprofit Hope for Ukraine: "For Putin it's personal because he is a former FSB agent, and is being outplayed by a former comic [Volodymyr Zelensky]. Putin will respond by increasing strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine, but that is all he can do at this time."
What Happens Next
Ukraine's drone attack on Russian airfields was likely intended to disrupt the Kremlin's position that it has the upper hand and can dictate the terms of any peace deal, according to the Crisis Group's Ignatov. "It's an attempt to change the narrative that Ukraine is losing the war gradually," he said.