Evening Brief: Ukraine Launches Massive Drone Strike Into Russia, Dozens Killed in Gaza Aid Incident, UK Preps for Huge Defense Spending Increase

· Guy D. McCardle

Russian emergency workers search the rubble of a damaged bridge in the Bryansk region. Image Credit: ABC News

On June 1, 2025, Ukraine pulled off one of the most daring strikes of the war, hitting Russian military targets deep inside its territory using a coordinated, large-scale drone operation. Ukrainian security sources say the attack hit at least four Russian airfields, including the Belaya air base in Irkutsk, way out in Siberia—over 2,500 miles from Ukraine’s border. That’s not a typo. Ukraine reached across an entire continent to strike strategic bombers parked on Russian soil.

Reports say more than 40 aircraft were either damaged or destroyed, including Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers—the same types Moscow uses to launch long-range missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. Some sources put the number as high as 41 bombers. Other airfields in Murmansk, Ryazan, and Ivanovo were also reportedly targeted in the attack. But the way the strike was carried out is what really raises eyebrows.

Ukrainian drones were smuggled into Russia hidden inside container trucks and disguised under mobile cabin roofs. At the right moment, those roofs opened remotely, and the drones launched in a synchronized attack, slamming into aircraft stationed at multiple locations.

Ukrainian Drone Launchers
Containers used to contain Ukrainian Drones. Image Credit ABC News

This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment move. Ukrainian intelligence says the operation took more than 18 months to plan, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself oversaw it. The goal? To weaken Russia’s capacity to launch missile strikes and take some of the pressure off Ukrainian cities. The price tag for the damage done is estimated to be over $2 billion in Russian aviation losses.

What’s more, the timing is hard to ignore. The strike came just one day before direct peace talks were set to begin in Istanbul. Zelenskyy announced that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov would head the Ukrainian delegation. Russia, for its part, admitted that several aircraft caught fire but hasn’t said much more. Local officials in the affected regions insisted civilians weren’t at risk.

This drone strike marks a major escalation in Ukraine’s war strategy. With Russia still launching waves of drones and missiles—including a staggering 472 drones and seven missiles in a single day recently—Kyiv appears to be hitting back harder and further than ever before. If these reports hold up, this would go down as the most destructive Ukrainian drone attack of the war.

 

Dozens Killed in Gaza Aid Incident

In the early hours of June 1, 2025, tragedy struck in Rafah, southern Gaza, when a deadly shooting near a humanitarian aid distribution center left at least 31 Palestinians dead and more than 170 injured. The victims had gathered before dawn, hoping to receive food from a distribution site backed by the United States and Israel. Instead, they found themselves in a deadly crossfire. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, local hospitals, and numerous eyewitnesses, Israeli forces opened fire as the crowd moved toward a roundabout roughly a kilometer from the aid drop point.

Survivors painted a harrowing picture of the chaos. Witnesses said Israeli forces had ordered the crowd to disperse, but as people moved, gunfire erupted from multiple directions—tanks, drones, and even naval vessels. One man, Amr Abu Teiba, described bullets flying from all sides, while another, Mohammed Abu Teaima, said he saw his cousin gunned down. Victims were hit in the head, neck, and chest. The injured were loaded onto carts and rushed to nearby hospitals and field clinics like Nasser Hospital and a Red Cross outpost, but for many, it was too late.

The Israeli military released a carefully worded statement saying it was “unaware of injuries caused by [Israeli] fire within the humanitarian aid distribution site,” though it stopped short of denying that shots were fired nearby. Meanwhile, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the group tasked with running the aid site, distanced itself from the violence and called reports of disorder false—though it acknowledged hearing rumors about casualties.

This aid system, set up jointly by Israel and the U.S., was meant to prevent Hamas from hijacking supplies. But critics have warned from the start that it puts civilians in harm’s way. After this bloodshed, those warnings sound less like criticism and more like prophecy. International outrage is building fast, and the question now is whether this kind of tragedy will force a hard look at how humanitarian aid is delivered in a war zone where the line between help and harm has grown razor thin.

 

UK Preps for Huge Defense Spending Increase

The United Kingdom is gearing up for its biggest boost in defense spending since the Cold War ended, signaling a serious shift in priorities as tensions with Russia continue to rise. Prime Minister Keir Starmer isn’t mincing words—he’s calling Russia an “immediate and urgent” threat, and his government is making it clear that Britain must be ready to fight and win against modern adversaries. The upcoming Strategic Defence Review, expected to be the most significant in decades, will lay out how the UK plans to respond to today’s evolving battlefield, which now includes drones, cyberattacks, and artificial intelligence alongside traditional military threats.

At the center of this overhaul is a major investment plan. The government is putting down at least £3 billion—roughly $3.8 billion—on long-range weapons, missile defenses, new munitions factories, and better living conditions for troops. Nearly double that amount—up to £6 billion—is being set aside specifically for restocking and expanding the UK’s munitions supply during this parliamentary term. A £1.5 billion initiative will fund at least six new weapons and explosives factories, an effort to bring the British defense industry back to life and prepare the country for future conflict, not just keep it afloat.

Defense spending is set to hit 2.5% of GDP by 2027, adding £13 billion annually to the budget. Starmer’s long-term goal is 3% in the next parliamentary term, which would push total new defense funding north of £50 billion. But while the money is flowing, the boots on the ground are another story. The British Army is now smaller than it’s been since the Napoleonic era, with just over 70,000 troops. Plans to add 5,000 more soldiers come with a £2.5 billion annual price tag, but that increase likely won’t happen until the early 2030s.

Defense Secretary John Healey made the government’s message clear: this isn’t just about spending money—it’s about showing Moscow that the UK is serious about its national security. It’s also about stepping up within NATO and responding to calls from the U.S. for Europe to shoulder more of its own defense burden. Beyond that, this military buildup is also being pitched as an economic stimulus—one that could energize British industry while reinforcing the country’s ability to defend itself in an increasingly dangerous world.