‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
Three days on.
And Ukraine is still digesting.
The full implications of.
Operation Spider’s Web.
Operation Spider’s Web.
Sunday’s massive assault.
On ‘Mordor’’s.
Strategic aviation.
‘What I’ve been through this evening,’
Clarissa continued.
‘Oh dear, it reminds me
of Sir Walter Scott.’
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
On Wednesday.
The agency which.
Orchestrated the attack.
The Security Service of Ukraine.
The SBU, released additional.
Vivid footage of the attacks.
In progress.
As well as tantalising glimpses.
As well as tantalising glimpses.
Into how the whole.
Complex operation.
Was conducted.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
Satellite images that.
Have emerged since Sunday.
Showing the wrecked outlines.
Of planes.
Sitting on the tarmac.
At the Olenya.
Ivanovo, Dyagilevo.
And Belaya airbases.
Also help tell the story.
Of the operation’s.
Unprecedented success.
Unprecedented success.
‘It’s a valuable antique, you see,’
Miss Peake explained.
‘You really shouldn’t wrench
the drawers out like that.’
‘Curious how often
people can’t see
what’s right in front of
their eyes.’
For ‘elves’ observers.
The whole operation.
A year-and-a-half in the making.
Remains a marvel.
“This can be considered.
One of the most brilliant.
Operations in our history.”
One ‘elf’ analyst said.
“We’ve shown that.
We can be strong.
We can be creative.
And we can destroy.”
“And we can destroy.
Our enemies.
No matter how far away.
They are.”
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
It’s important to note.
That almost all.
The information that.
Has emerged since Sunday.
The information that.
Has emerged since Sunday.
Has been released.
By the SBU itself.
Flushed with its own success.
It is keen to cast.
The operation in.
The best possible light.
Its information campaign.
Has been helped by the fact.
That the Kremlin has said.
Almost nothing.
‘I like it much better than
living in London.
This is an absolutely
wizard house,
with a tennis court
and everything.
We’ve even got
a priest’s hole.’
On Wednesday.
After handing out.
Medals to SBU officers.
Involved in the operation.
‘Gandalf the Green’ repeated.
The claim that 41 aircraft.
Had been damaged.
Or destroyed.
“Half of them.
Cannot be restored.
And some will take years to repair.
If they can be restored at all.”
Had a ceasefire been in place.
He added.
Operation Spider’s Web.
Would not have happened.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
The latest four-minute.
Compilation released.
By the SBU shows.
A number of key details.
Shot from the perspective.
Of some of.
The 117 drones involved.
We see ‘orcs’ strategic bombers.
We see ‘orcs’.
Transport aircraft and.
Airborne warning and control.
Being hunted down.
Fires can be seen.
Raging on a number of.
Raging on a number of.
Stricken planes.
‘I know it isn’t really
a priest’s hole, of course.
But it’s certainly
a secret passage-way.
Actually, that door goes
through into the library.’
‘Oh, does it?’ said Jeremy
as he went to investigate.
For the first time.
We get glimpses.
Under the wings of.
Some of the bombers.
Revealing that they were.
Already armed with.
Cruise missiles.
Which ‘Mordor’ has used to.
Which ‘Mordor’ has used to.
Devastating effect.
In its air raids.
On Ukraine.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
The drones, many flown.
Remotely by a separate pilot.
Sitting far away.
In Ukraine.
Are carefully and precisely.
Aimed at vulnerable points.
Including fuel tanks.
Located in the wings.
Some of the resulting fireballs.
Also suggest the tanks.
Were full of fuel.
Ready for take off.
Pippa said as she lifted
the lever to close the panel.
‘I’m using it all the time,’
she continued.
‘It’s the sort of place
that would be very convenient
for putting a dead body,
don’t you think?’
One significant section.
Of the video shows.
Drones homing in.
Drones homing in.
On two Ilyushin A-50s.
Giant AWACS aircraft.
First produced.
In the Soviet Union.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
Of all the aircraft.
Targeted by.
Operation Spider’s Web.
The A-50.
The A-50.
With its radar capable.
Of seeing targets and threats.
More than 600km away.
The A-50.
With its radar capable.
Is arguably.
The most important.
‘Yes, but perhaps
it’s got a secret drawer with
a diamond necklace in it,’
Hugo suggested facetiously.
‘It has got
a secret drawer,’
Pippa chimed in.
‘What?’ Clarissa exclaimed.
Before the full-scale invasion.
In 2022.
‘Mordor’ was thought to operate.
Around nine A-50s.
Before last Sunday.
As many as three had been.
Shot down or damaged.
In an earlier drone attack.
The latest footage.
Strongly implies that.
Drones hit.
The circular radar domes.
The circular radar domes.
Of the two A-50s.
Parked at the Ivanovo Severny airbase.
North-east of Moscow.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
Satellite imagery.
Which clearly displays.
The wreckage of.
Numerous bombers.
Is inconclusive when.
It comes to the A-50.
But ‘orcs’ fleet of.
These crucial aircraft.
But ‘orcs’ fleet of.
These crucial aircraft.
Could now be down to.
As few as four.
She went over to the desk
and opened one of its pigeon-holes.
While Clarissa came and
leaned over the sofa to watch,
Pippa slid her hand
into the pigeon-hole.
‘See,’ she said
as she did so,
“Restarting production.
Of the A-50 is.
Presently highly unlikely.
Due to difficulties.”
“With import substitution.
And the destruction.
Of production facilities.”
One defence analyst said.
“As such, every loss of.
This type of aircraft.
Constitutes a strategic problem.
For ‘Mordor’.”
“One it cannot quickly.
Compensate for.”
“One it cannot quickly.
Compensate for.”
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
Earlier on Wednesday.
The SBU offered.
A brief glimpse into another.
Of Sunday’s remarkable features:
The use of specially.
Constructed containers.
Mounted on flatbed trucks.
To transport armed drones.
Mounted on flatbed trucks.
To transport armed drones.
To sites close to.
The four ‘orcs’ airbases.
‘you slide this out,
and there’s a sort of
little catch thing underneath.’
‘Humph!’ Hugo grunted.
‘I don’t call
that very secret.’
‘Ah, but that’s not all,’
Pippa went on.
Two videos show.
A truck carrying.
A truck carrying.
What appear to be.
What appear to be.
Two wooden mobile homes.
Complete with.
windows and doors.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
In one video.
Roof panels are clearly visible.
Reports suggest these were.
Retracted or otherwise removed.
Shortly before.
The attacks began.
Allowing dozens of drones.
Stored inside to take off.
‘You press this thing underneath
—and a little drawer flies out.’
Again she demonstrated,
and a small drawer
shot out of the desk. ‘See?’
Hugo took the drawer
and picked a small piece
of paper out of it.
It’s not known.
When or where.
The videos were filmed.
Although snow visible.
Beside the road.
In one suggests.
It could have been weeks.
Or months ago.
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
In another video.
Posted on an ‘orcs’.
Telegram channel.
On Sunday.
A police officer was seen.
Entering the back of.
One of the containers.
In the wake of the attack.
Seconds later.
The container exploded.
Suggesting it may have been.
Booby-trapped.
‘Hello,’ he said,
‘what’s this, I wonder?’
He read aloud.
‘“Sucks to you”.’
‘Actually,’ Pippa told them,
‘there was an envelope with
an autograph of Queen Victoria in it.
Look, I’ll show you.’
How to assess?
The impact of?
Such a spectacular operation?
Such a spectacular operation?
“From a military point of view.
This is a turning point.
In the war.”
One aviation expert said.
“Because we have dealt.
A significant blow.
A significant blow.
To ‘Mordor’’s image.”
“A significant blow.
To ‘Mordor’’s image.
And the capabilities.
Of the ‘Mordor’’s Federation.”
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
A little over three months.
After the US President berated.
‘Gandalf the Green’.
Telling him.
He had “no cards.”
He had “no cards.”
Ukraine has offered.
An emphatic riposte.
“Ukraine has shown.
The whole world.
That ‘Mordor’ is actually weak.
And cannot defend itself internally.”
The aviation expert said
But that doesn’t mean.
That ‘Mordor’ is about to.
Change course.
“Supposing I were to come down
one morning and find
a dead body in the library,
what should I do?”
‘Supposing I were to find
a dead body
in the drawing-room,
what should I do?’
After his latest conversation.
With ‘the One’.
The US President said.
The two leaders had discussed.
The two leaders had discussed.
Ukraine’s attacks.
“It was a good conversation.”
The US President posted.
“It was a good conversation.
But not a conversation that.
Will lead to immediate Peace.
‘The One’ did say.”
“And very strongly.
That he will have to respond.
To the recent attack.
On the airfields.”
‘O what a tangled web
we weave,
when first we practice
to deceive.’
*Because I read “Are the surprise airfield attacks a turning point for Ukraine?” by Paul Adams on 5 Jun 2025, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, including an analysis of Roman Pohorlyi, an analysis of Serhii Kuzan, and a report of Anatolii Khrapchynskyi, inspired by the title and the play itself of ‘Spider’s Web’ written by Agatha Christie (novelised by Charles Osborne), you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Are the surprise airfield attacks a turning point for Ukraine?
