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Following Operation Spiderweb, both sides are 'recalculating'

Following Operation Spiderweb, both sides are 'recalculating'

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Following Operation Spiderweb, both sides are 'recalculating'

A former Navy pilot says Russia and Ukraine are taking very different approaches to the accepted "principles of war."

It got a little easier to determine the black hats and white hats over the weekend, at least as far as ethical warfare is concerned.

Ukraine launched a major drone attack on key Russian military targets that were thousands of miles from the front lines.

According to Ukrainian officials, the attacks targeted four air bases and resulted in the destruction of at least 41 Russian warplanes, causing an estimated $7 billion in damage.

Russian authorities initially downplayed the damage, stating that no casualties occurred and that several of the aircraft simply caught fire. But that aerial footage told a different story; independent analysis and satellite imagery showed significant destruction.

Meanwhile, Russia's attacks have had less military value.

In late May, Russia launched its largest aerial attack of the war, killing at least 12 civilians, including three children, in the northern region of Zhytomyr.

The attack included 298 drones and 69 missiles and targeted multiple cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Ternopil.

Human Rights Watch has investigated four other Russian attacks that are said to have killed at least 47 civilians and injured more than 180 others.

Weber, Travis (FRC) Weber

"There are certain ethical principles that have guided nations that have conducted war according to the law of armed conflict and the principles of war," Travis Weber, Family Research Council's vice president for policy and government affairs and a former Navy pilot, said on "Washington Watch" Monday.

"Some of those involve core principles of necessity proportionality. Those involve who you're targeting and why you're targeting them," he explained, noting the distinctions between legitimate military targets and illegitimate targets.

At times, legitimate targets will have unintended damage to civilian infrastructure, injuries, or deaths.

"That's considered legal under the principles of war, but you cannot intentionally target them," Weber told show host Tony Perkins. "That's an important consideration as we look at what's happening here."

Code-named Operation Spiderweb, Ukraine smuggled drones inside wooden structures that resembled mobile homes, ABC.net reported. They were transported on trucks to locations near Russian air bases.

Once in position, the roofs of the structures were remotely opened, allowing the drones to launch and proceed to their targets.

Planning took more than a year and a half and involved the recruitment of Russian insiders to facilitate the smuggling process without alerting Russian security services.

"News sites are carrying a version of the story and how the attack was special in the sense of how far away from the battlefield Ukraine was able to strike these Russian bombers and how this might alter the course of the conflict," Weber said.

Russia's long-range attack planes were of particular interest in Operation Spiderweb. Three types of strategic bombers and airborne early warning control aircraft were targeted.

One long-range bomber targeted, the Tu-95, is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional weapons.

Ceasefire or surrender?

In the wake of the weekend attack, a second round of peace talks was held Monday in Istanbul, but they ended after little more than an hour.

Russia wants to retain Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. It also wants to ban Ukraine from NATO or any other military alliance while restricting the size of Ukraine's own military and guaranteeing that it will not acquire nuclear weapons.

Weber told Perkins that Ukraine's successful drone attack could cause both countries to recalculate, "but as efforts continue to get Russia and Ukraine to the table, we're not really seeing a breakthrough yet," he said.

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