[M T]

Apparently, the U.S. was not told in advance about this operation. I wouldn’t have expected them to.

However, no doubt this was triggered by the possibility of a cease-fire in the near future, just as was Russia's massive number of drone attacks over night and in the last week.  The optimist in me believes this signifies that both countries believe something may change soon.  Both sides may have gone all in just before the talks, and the "2 week" deadline.

One never knows. This seems to be an operation that the US would not want to have prior specific knowledge of.  Even if the US wasn't told, I could believe maybe the US knew something was in process.   It would be foolish to think Ukraine was simply putting out the fires from the Russian drones without doing anything more.  I have to admit I wondered "Why a 2-week deadline?".

I do note that a major difference between Russia and Ukraine is that today's strikes by Ukraine were clearly against the military.  They could have struck deep in major Russian cities instead, hitting power stations, shopping areas, and apartments, just as it seems Russia has been doing.  Of course, in such a case, Russia would have come to the talks with its people strongly against Ukraine.  Now, the Russian people may just be questioning the war and Putin.

Considering these strikes were against the military, and apparently quite successful, I have to admire the Ukrainians for this.

The implications of this kind of attack against a country (say, the US) in a Pearl Harbor type surprise attack or a terrorist attack is concerning.  What if a terrorist group attacked one or several major civilian airports in this fashion?

The implications of this attack on the risk to NATO countries is interesting.  The German defense chief just warned that Russia might attack a NATO country in 4 years.  I should defer to Goose, but, perhaps naively, I suspect this attack significantly reduced that risk.  It doesn't reduce the number of tanks or shells that Russia is stockpiling (per that article) but it does weaken the air cover for any attack.

[M T]

Apparently, the U.S. was not told in advance about this operation. I wouldn’t have expected them to.

However, no doubt this was triggered by the possibility of a cease-fire in the near future, just as was Russia's massive number of drone attacks over night and in the last week.  The optimist in me believes this signifies that both countries believe something may change soon.  Both sides may have gone all in just before the talks, and the "2 week" deadline.

One never knows. This seems to be an operation that the US would not want to have prior specific knowledge of.  Even if the US wasn't told, I could believe maybe the US knew something was in process.   It would be foolish to think Ukraine was simply putting out the fires from the Russian drones without doing anything more.  I have to admit I wondered "Why a 2-week deadline?".

I do note that a major difference between Russia and Ukraine is that today's strikes by Ukraine were clearly against the military.  They could have struck deep in major Russian cities instead, hitting power stations, shopping areas, and apartments, just as it seems Russia has been doing.  Of course, in such a case, Russia would have come to the talks with its people strongly against Ukraine.  Now, the Russian people may just be questioning the war and Putin.

Considering these strikes were against the military, and apparently quite successful, I have to admire the Ukrainians for this.

The implications of this kind of attack against a country (say, the US) in a Pearl Harbor type surprise attack or a terrorist attack is concerning.  What if a terrorist group attacked one or several major civilian airports in this fashion?

The implications of this attack on the risk to NATO countries is interesting.  The German defense chief just warned that Russia might attack a NATO country in 4 years.  I should defer to Goose, but, perhaps naively, I suspect this attack significantly reduced that risk.  It doesn't reduce the number of tanks or shells that Russia is stockpiling (per that article) but it does weaken the air cover for any attack.