Nick Schifrin:
So the Ukrainians claimed it was 41 Russian bombers. Russia only has about 90 of these bombers. So if Ukraine is telling the truth, then it’s a huge portion of Russia’s strategic assets in terms of its bombers.
A senior defense official yesterday told reporters that the number is probably inflated, and a separate U.S. official told me that as well. But, nonetheless, it is a very significant strike. We have seen multiple aircraft burned out, even from space, as I pointed out.
It shows a lot of planning. It shows an intelligence capability inside Russia that we did not know Ukraine had, just logistics, trying to get all of those drones, to construct them in Russia, to build some kind of container to conceal them, and then to get close to these four bases. That shows a level of sophistication that a senior defense official told us yesterday we have not seen Ukraine have.
It also demonstrates, Amna, perhaps that Ukraine still has the capability to do that kind of attack again.
