Ukraine did not give the Trump administration advance notice of its drone strikes deep in Russian territory Sunday that wiped out dozens of nuclear “doomsday” bombers and other aircraft, according to reports.
The daring Ukrainian operation had been in the works for more than a year and entailed a covert operation to smuggle a slew of drones into Russia, but the White House was not given a heads-up that the planned attack was coming, CBS and Axios said, citing sources.
The White House did not respond to a Post request for comment Sunday.
The sneak attack came as Ukrainian negotiators are set to meet with their Russian counterparts in Istanbul on Monday to present their latest offer during peace talks.
Trump — who spent his Sunday morning hitting the tees at his Sterling, Va., club with golf ace Bryson DeChambeau — has repeatedly publicly chafed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Their shaky relationship includes their infamous Feb. 28 Oval Office blow-up and the president’s occasional social-media posts in which he’s blamed the US’s traditional ally for the war.
Among the insults hurled during the pair’s Feb. 28 public clash was Trump’s claim that Ukraine has “no cards” to play in its campaign to stave off Russian invaders.
Some observers have speculated that Ukrainian trust in Washington has waned under the Trump administration amid the public flare-ups.
In Sunday’s attack by Ukraine, at least 41 of the Kremlin’s heavy bombers at four different locations in Russia — thousands of miles inside the country — were hit, the Kyiv Independent reported.
The struck aircraft included TU-95 “Bear” nuclear bombers — considered Russia’s doomsday deterrent — A-50 “Mainstay” command-and-control jets and TU-22 “Backfire” fast-attack strike bombers, according to multiple reports.
The surprise attack comes against the backdrop of Russia brutally pummeling Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv in recent weeks, slaughtering civilians.
Some of Russia’s barbarism toward civilians has prompted outrage from Trump, who recently suggested that the country’s strongman, Vladimir Putin, has “gone absolutely CRAZY” and that he was “playing with fire” by not acting as if he wanted peace negotiations.
Russia’s stepped-up drone bombardments on Ukraine have come while Trump has attempted to broker a peace deal between the two warring countries. Ukraine has agreed to Trump’s proposed terms for a ceasefire, but Russia hasn’t.
Still, Trump has continued to publicly place some of the blame for the bloody war on Zelensky’s shoulders in addition to Putin’s.
“This isn’t my war. This is Biden’s war, Zelensky his war and Putin’s war. This isn’t Trump’s war,” the president told reporters last week.
Bipartisan calls have grown inside Congress to ramp up sanctions on Russia and even consider giving Kyiv more firepower to fend off the invaders.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has met with Zelensky alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), said the Senate will “start moving” to tighten the screws on Moscow and consider a sanctions package when the upper chamber reconvenes this week.
Trump has expressed reluctance to amplify the sanctions on Russia during the sensitive negotiations over the war.
Congress has approved over $175 billion in aid to Ukraine since the war broke out in February 2022, according to a Congressional Research Service study published in January. Much of that money includes humanitarian and economic aid to the war-torn country.
The State Department estimates that the US has marshaled $66.9 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s deadly invasion began over three years ago, according to a March fact sheet.
