Morning Note

Ukraine executed a surprise drone attack deep inside Russia on Sunday, a strike so significant that some are calling it “Russia’s Pearl Harbor.”

Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly personally supervised the mission, which took over 18 months to plan and eliminated over 40 enemy aircraft. The operation featured trucks smuggling drones into Russian territory, and those weapons hitting targets more than 2,500 miles into the country. It unfolded just one day before the next round of scheduled peace talks.

According to Axios, Kyiv failed to afford the Trump administration a heads-up that the attack was coming, leaving its most significant financial backer in the dark as it carried out a mission that American support directly enabled.

Given Donald Trump’s recent statements about Vladimir Putin and ceasefire negotiations’ apparent lack of progress, it’s hard to predict whether Washington will continue pumping fortunes of taxpayer dollars into this conflict. One thing that’s certain is that if the U.S. does continue its generous subsidies, Ukraine should not keep America hidden from plans like Sunday’s attack. The United States deserves to know exactly what it is supporting, not to write conditionless checks and pray they don’t lead to nuclear war.

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