New Delhi: Three years of war. Endless airstrikes. Then came June 1. Dozens of drones, hidden in trucks, deep inside Russia. Then, all at once, they moved. Airbases targeted. Bombers hit. At least 12 wiped out. Ukraine called it Operation “Spiderweb”. A win for Kyiv. A message to Moscow. The game had changed.
Then came the warning. Putin told US President Donald Trump, “We will have to respond.”
On June 5 night, missiles and drones rained down on Kyiv. It was brutal. It was loud. But not new. After three years of war, Ukraine had seen this before.
Olha, 67, stayed up all night. Kyiv resident. No stranger to explosions. She told CNN, “If this is retaliation, we will see more like it. Monthly. Maybe more.”
But many now wonder – is this all Putin can do?
Experts say he is boxed in. The bigger response means admitting the strike hurt. That Ukraine outmaneuvered him. That is not how the Kremlin plays.
Even in public meetings, Putin’s ministers talked about bridge collapses. Not a word on “Spiderweb”.
Foreign Minister Lavrov mentioned “criminal provocations”. Nothing else. No spotlight on Ukraine’s drone operation. No sign of bombers lost. Just silence.
Russia watchers call it a strategy. “Putin wants this to disappear. A major response would expose the damage. That is not the image the Kremlin wants,” CNN quotes Kateryna Stepanenko from the Institute for the Study of War as saying.
But what if Putin wanted to retaliate? He is already firing more drones than ever. On May 31, Russia launched 472 drones. A record. Then 479 on June 1. Another record.
“How would we even know if Putin escalated? They are already hitting malls and apartments. What is left?” ” asked William Alberque from the Stimson Center.
Some pro-war bloggers had ideas. Nuclear threats. New missiles. One suggested the Oreshnik – rarely used. But experts doubt it would work.
According to Mark Galeotti, a Russia analyst, “It is not a precision weapon. It will not reach deep bunkers. If Putin uses it, it has to count.”
Galeotti thinks Ukraine’s spy agency, the SBU, could be a target. But it will not be easy.
“He is burned through most of his escalation tools. That limits what he can do next,” Galeotti said.
Still, the strikes may not be over. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it hit an airfield in Rivne on Sunday.
Ukraine’s air force confirmed the attack and called it “one of the biggest ever”. Air defenses held up. But not enough. “You cannot shoot down everything,” said air force rep Yuriy Ihnat.
So what now? On the headlines, Ukraine’s winning. On the ground, it is tougher. Russia’s pushing north. Near Sumy. Just 12 miles from the city. Now claiming moves into central Ukraine, too.
“Putin may accept pain at home. All for a slow, steady push forward,” Galeotti told CNN.
Is “Spiderweb” a one-off? Or the first of many? It took 18 months to plan. What else is cooking?
Alberque asks the same thing – “How many other drone ops are halfway there?”
Two days after the bombing raid, Ukraine tried again, targeting the Kerch bridge. It was not destroyed. But the message was clear. Ukraine can hit back.
And that may force Putin’s hand. “If these strikes keep humiliating the Kremlin. Putin will feel pressure to hit harder, not just more often, but differently,” said Alberque.
Strongman politics. That’s Putin’s brand. “He needs to look like a wartime leader. Not someone getting outplayed by drones,” Alberque told the channel.
