Why U.S. should be worried about Ukrainian attack on Russian warplanes
A drone is launched in late May in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via AP Nation & World Why U.S. should be worried about Ukrainian attack on Russian warplanes Audacious — and wildly successful — use of inexpensive drones against superior force can be used anywhere, against anyone Christina Pazzanese Harvard Staff Writer June 11, 2025 9 min read Ukraine stunned Russia — and the world — when it launched Operation Spider’s Web, an audacious drone attack on June 1 that damaged or destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes. In the days since, Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded by escalating aerial assaults, launching record drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. Beyond its secrecy and complexity, military analysts say Ukraine’s remarkable success using inexpensive homemade drones against a larger, more formidable adversary ushers modern warfare into a new and potentially troubling era. In this edited conversation, the Gazette spoke with Eric Rosenbach, a senior lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School...