By Guest Columnist Craig Bergman
War is hell, a brutal truth etched into the human condition. Yet self-defense is a God-given, natural right, as fundamental as life itself. When we urged Ukraine to surrender its nuclear arsenal in the 1990s, we promised to stand by its sovereignty in precisely this scenario—a Russian invasion trampling its borders.
Ukraine’s audacious Operation Spider’s Web, striking deep into Russia’s military heart, is not reckless provocation but a righteous act of survival. President Trump, in his zeal for peace, errs gravely in condemning Ukraine’s resolve. Peace at any price is no peace at all; it’s surrender dressed in diplomacy.
Ukraine is not just fighting for itself but pioneering a future of warfare, where pennies’ worth of drones render multibillion-dollar arsenals obsolete—a modern guerrilla triumph. MAGA, with its love of strength and liberty, should reconsider its knee-jerk criticism and recognize Ukraine’s cause as one worth championing.
The Strike That Shook Russia
On June 1, 2025, Ukraine launched Operation Spider’s Web, a drone assault of staggering ambition. Over 100 drones, smuggled across thousands of miles in trucks disguised as civilian cargo, struck five Russian airbases from Siberia to Murmansk.
The targets were no small fry: strategic bombers like the Tu-95 and Tu-22, capable of raining cruise missiles on Ukrainian cities, and possibly A-50 command aircraft, the eyes of Russia’s air force. Ukraine’s Security Service claims 41 planes were damaged or destroyed, a blow costing Russia an estimated $7 billion. These aren’t just numbers; they’re irreplaceable losses.
Russia’s military-industrial complex, creaking under sanctions, can’t churn out new Tu-95s or A-50s. Repairing the rest will take years, draining funds from Moscow’s war chest. Bases burned, skies lit with explosions, and Russian commanders left scrambling—this was no pinprick but a sledgehammer to Putin’s war machine.
Ukraine’s drones, some costing as little as $450, turned Russia’s own vastness against it, striking 2,500 miles from the front line. The operation’s audacity exposed Russia’s air defenses as porous, its intelligence as blind, and its prestige as a paper tiger.
Putin’s Cruelty vs. Ukraine’s Restraint
Contrast Russia’s war with Ukraine’s. Putin’s strategy is to break Ukraine’s spirit, targeting civilians and infrastructure with relentless savagery. Since 2022, Russian missiles and drones have demolished apartment blocks, schools, and hospitals—Kyiv’s children’s hospital was gutted in July 2024, killing dozens.
Power grids, water supplies, and grain silos have been obliterated, aiming to starve and freeze Ukrainians into submission. Over 50,000 civilian deaths bear witness to this barbarity. Ukraine, by contrast, has shown surgical restraint. Operation Spider’s Web hit military airfields, not Moscow suburbs or Siberian factories.
No civilian targets, no indiscriminate terror—just a laser focus on assets bombing Ukrainian cities. This is not the act of a rogue state but a nation fighting with discipline, adhering to the laws of war while under existential threat. MAGA, which recoils at tyranny, should see Putin’s civilian slaughter for what it is and applaud Ukraine’s principled stand, not parrot Kremlin talking points about “provocation.”
Russia’s Paranoia and Crippled Logistics
The operation’s genius lies not just in burning planes but in sowing chaos across Russia’s sprawling empire. By revealing how drones were hidden in trucks, driven undetected across 5,000 kilometers, Ukraine turned Russia’s logistics into a liability.
Every delivery van, every gas station stop, every rural road is now a potential threat. Moscow must divert troops, funds, and technology to patrol millions of square miles, inspecting countless vehicles and drivers. This isn’t just a security headache; it’s an economic chokehold.
Russia’s supply chains, already strained by war and sanctions, face delays and skyrocketing costs as checkpoints multiply. The paranoia is palpable: if Ukraine’s operatives can infiltrate so deeply, what’s next? A fuel depot? A rail hub? The Kremlin itself?
This uncertainty breeds mistrust, with Russian officials eyeing their own citizens—truckers, contractors—as potential spies. The result is a nation turning inward, its resources bled dry by the need to guard against ghosts. Ukraine didn’t just strike airbases; it weaponized Russia’s own geography, a masterstroke MAGA’s strategic minds should admire.
Ukraine’s Strength, Not World War
Trump and some MAGA voices warn of World War III, clutching pearls over Putin’s nuclear bluster. But this fear misreads the battlefield and Ukraine’s resolve. Operation Spider’s Web strengthens Kyiv’s hand at the Istanbul peace talks, proving it can hit Russia where it hurts.
A weakened Russia, its bomber fleet gutted and its defenses exposed, is more likely to negotiate seriously, not less. Ukraine’s demands—a ceasefire, prisoner releases, the return of abducted children—are grounded in justice, not conquest. The risk of global war is overstated; no other nation is joining the fray. NATO isn’t firing missiles, and China isn’t mobilizing. Putin’s threats are theater, meant to scare the West into abandoning Ukraine.
MAGA, with its disdain for bullies, should see through this. Ukraine’s fight is not a reckless gamble but a calculated stand, showing the world how a smaller nation can humble a giant with ingenuity and courage. By backing Ukraine’s right to defend itself, MAGA can align with its own values—strength, freedom, and defiance of tyrants—rather than echoing the Kremlin’s tired script.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/747935097007683/permalink/1238623407938847
