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Ukraine's drone coup, Boulder fire attack and Poland's election

 
Today's UKraine WAR story

Ukraine hits Russia's bomber fleet in stealth drone attack

What happened
Ukraine struck 41 Russian long-range bombers and other military aircraft yesterday in a covert drone attack on air bases as far away as Siberia and the Finnish border, officials in Kyiv said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) had worked on the operation for 18 months, and the 117 drones they smuggled close to four air bases had disabled 34% of Russia's strategic bombers. Earlier yesterday, Russia killed at least 12 Ukrainian soldiers and wounded dozens more at a training base, Kyiv said, and hours before that Moscow launched 472 drones and seven missiles at Ukraine, hitting 18 targets.

Who said what
The "audacious" drone operation was a "significant victory for Ukraine's deep-strike program," The Wall Street Journal said, and the "biggest blow of the war against Moscow's long-range bomber fleet," which is also "vital to Russia's nuclear forces." Russia has been using Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers to hit Ukraine with hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles, and "killing the archers instead of intercepting the arrows" is "a more effective way to degrade Russian capabilities," said George Barros, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. 

SBU officials told Western media organizations they had hidden small explosive quadcopter drones inside the roofs of mobile wooden houses that were then driven near the Belaya, Ivanovo, Dyagilevo and Olenya air bases and released. They said the attack, codenamed Operation Spider's Web, inflicted $7 billion worth of irreparable damage to Russia's aging bomber fleet. Russia's Defense Ministry said the "terrorist attack" caused "several units of aircraft" to catch fire at the Belaya and Olenya airfields but the "fires have been extinguished" and there were "no casualties." Russia's "influential" pro-war military bloggers described the assault as "Russia's Pearl Harbor," The Washington Post said.

Zelenskyy called the results "absolutely brilliant" and "achieved solely by Ukraine." The "people involved in preparing the operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time," he added. "Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so — we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war."

What next?
Zelenskyy said he was sending Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to scheduled ceasefire talks with Russia in Istanbul today, though "the key issues can only be resolved by the leaders."

 
 
Today's CRIME story

Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder

What happened
Eight people were hospitalized with burns yesterday after a man threw Molotov cocktails at a Jewish group in Boulder, Colorado, at the end of their weekly walk to raise awareness of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas, authorities said. The alleged attacker, who was arrested at the scene, also used a "makeshift flamethrower" and was heard yelling "Free Palestine," said Mark Michalek, the FBI agent in charge of the Denver office. The FBI is investigating this clear "targeted act of violence" as "an act of terrorism," he said.

Who said what
The victims ranged in age from 52 to 88 and at least one was in critical condition, officials said. Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said the 45-year-old suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman of Colorado Springs, was believed to have acted alone. He was also briefly hospitalized, police said. Witnesses told The Associated Press the attacker had removed his shirt and what looked like a bulletproof vest after accidentally setting himself on fire. 

Israel's war in Gaza has "spurred both an increase in antisemitic hate crime" and an effort "led by President Donald Trump to brand pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic," Reuters said. Yesterday's attack came less than two weeks after a gunman yelling "Free Palestine" killed two Israeli embassy workers outside a Jewish event in Washington D.C. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said it was "unfathomable that the Jewish community is facing another terror attack here in Boulder."

What next?
Soliman was booked in the Boulder County jail. County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said authorities would decide in coming days which charges to file in what courts to "hold the attacker fully accountable."

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL Story

Nationalist wins tight Polish presidential election

What happened
Conservative nationalist Karol Nawrocki won Poland's presidential runoff election yesterday, according to official results released today. Nawrocki, a 42-year-old historian and amateur boxer aligned with Poland's former ruling Law and Justice party, beat liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski 50.9% to 49.1%. 

Who said what
Nawrocki's victory "deals a significant blow" to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose centrist coalition backed Trzaskowski, Politico said. The "tight result" reflects Poland's "deep political divisions" — between liberal cities and conservative towns, and backers of the European Union or a nationalist future — though "those splits are nothing new." Outgoing President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the right-wing Law and Justice party, defeated Trzaskowski 51% to 49% in 2020.

Duda "has no say in setting economic or other policy" but has used his veto power to "stymie" legislation passed by Tusk's coalition, and there's "little chance" Nawrocki will "wave through laws" Duda blocked, The New York Times said. Both sides "agree that Poland should provide weapons to Ukraine for its war against Russia and build up its military, but diverge sharply on most domestic issues, including abortion."

What next?
Nawrocki will take office when Duda's term ends Aug. 6. With another Law and Justice ally in the presidency, "it appears Tusk will have no way to fulfill" his electoral promises to Polish voters and the EU, The Associated Press said. Some observers predict those "unfulfilled promises could make it more difficult for Tusk to continue his term until the next parliamentary election scheduled for late 2027."

 
 

It's not all bad

Retired social worker Paul Jenkinson is on a "listening tour" of Canada, offering strangers "total, unconditional acceptance," he told The Washington Post. The Nova Scotia resident set out on May 1, sitting outside of public spaces with a sign that reads: "You are not alone. I will listen." He has spoken with people about love, addiction, grief and good news. "Life is not all sorrow and challenges," Jenkinson said. "It's actually beautiful some of the time."

 
 
Under the radar

Meat-loving Uruguay has been rocked by an investment swindle involving "phantom cows," with high-profile politicians, celebrities and even priests among the victims. Thousands of people in the small South American nation invested an estimated $350 million in fraudulent "cow bonds." But despite Uruguay's "model" cattle-tracking system, neither the cows — which could number more than 700,000 — nor the money can be found, said Reuters. 

Three companies that have now gone bust are under investigation in what's shaping up to be one of the biggest financial scandals in the history of this "stable farming nation," Reuters said. Uruguay's national cattle registry has declined to comment, but the revelation has "sent shockwaves through its bigger ranching neighbors, Argentina and Brazil," where there are similar livestock investment schemes. 

For years, investors in one firm, Conexión Ganadera, received fixed-dollar returns as promised. But when some investors went in search of their cows, they couldn't match the cattle registry tracking numbers to the tags in the ears of the animals in the fields. Uruguay's central bank began investigating cattle investments in 2018. But it was the broadcast of a "scathing" TV documentary last October, which included statements from investors claiming to have been defrauded, that brought the corruption to the fore, said Bloomberg. 

An inventory of Conexión Ganadera by a bankruptcy trustee estimated that as few as 70,000 of the 804,604 cattle the company claimed to manage had ever actually existed. "We don't know if the cows were ever bought, whether they are alive or dead," one investor said to Reuters.

 
 
On this day

June 2, 1946

Italian voters passed a constitutional referendum abolishing the monarchy and replacing it with a republic. The last king of Italy, Umberto II, reigned for only 34 days before being deposed due to the referendum. Italy's new republic, the first on the peninsula since Roman times, is currently led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

Recent refugees from South Africa and Myanmar are experiencing "two very different Americas" in Alabama, The Washington Post says on Monday's front page. "New ICE playbook: Arrests at immigration court," as "government's lawyers help effort to ramp up deportations," The New York Times says. "ICE takes heat" from "outraged" Rep. Jerrold Nadler after agents "cuffed and detained" one of his staffers, says the New York Daily News. "Foreigners' U.S. travel declines, crimping businesses," The Wall Street Journal says. "Exempted plants include dirtiest" as "Trump delays pollution limits on coal, other plants," USA Today says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Nuns having fun

Two Brazilian nuns went viral after showing off their beatboxing and dancing skills on a Catholic television station. As the nuns were singing a song about religious vocations, Sister Marizele Cassiano started "dropping a freestyle beat" and her "godly companion," Sister Marisa de Paula, broke out in dance, said Global News. The clip quickly spread online. The viral performance "was very spontaneous, because with Sister Marisa, if you start a beat, she will dance," Sister Marizele told The Associated Press.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Genevieve Bates, Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Ukrainian Security Service via AP; Helen H. Richardson / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post via Getty Images; Jakub Porzycki / Anadolu via Getty Images; Mariana Suarez / AFP / Getty Images