#RussiaUkraineCeasefire

Putin promised to make Ukraine pay for its airbase attacks. What does he have left?

The operation, codenamed “Spiderweb,” was 18 months in the making. Dozens of hidden drones emerged from trucks parked in Russia, racing to airfields thousands of miles from Ukraine and destroying at least 12 bombers.

Although the operation was a huge boost for Ukrainian morale, many in the country braced for Moscow’s retaliation. Their fears sharpened when Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump on Wednesday that the Kremlin would “have to respond” to the attack.

Russia’s initial retaliation began Thursday night, in the form of a massive drone and missile strike on Kyiv and across the country. Russia’s Ministry of Defense described the strikes as a “response” to Kyiv’s “terrorist acts.” The attack was punishing, but not qualitatively different to what Ukraine has grown used to over three years of war.

Olha, a 67-year-old resident of Kyiv who asked to be identified only by her first name, told CNN that if Thursday night’s strikes were Russia’s retaliation, then Ukraine faces “many such retaliations – once a month, even more.”

Russia’s response so far to Ukraine’s extraordinary operation has raised questions about Putin’s ability to escalate the war and exact the retribution that many of his supporters have clamored for. And it has left Ukrainians wondering if it has already felt the brunt of Russia’s response, or if the worst is yet to come.