Tyrant rushes to meet Iran’s foreign minister after Trump’s nuclear strikes as fears mount of devastating hybrid attack on NATO’s eastern flank
Vladimir Putin could be plotting to exploit the chaos in the Middle East to launch a never-seen-before attack on Europe, a Ukrainian government insider has chillingly warned.
The alarm was raised today as Putin became the first world leader to meet the Iranians after US President Donald Trump launched a wave of strikes on the Ayatollah’s nuclear sites.
Russia has warned Trump has opened up a “Pandora’s Box” with his B-2 bomber blitz over the weekend — which Vlad himself slammed as “unprovoked aggression”, despite his own illegal war in Ukraine.
But a senior Ukrainian insider has warned Putin will be rubbing his hands with glee as he plans to exploit the crisis while the West’s eyes are turned to the Middle East.
‘Major Article 5 test’
The cunning tyrant may even attempt to mimic Ukraine’s elaborate Spiderweb operation that blitzed strategic targets inside Russia, the source revealed.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, a Ukrainian source warned: “The West should be prepared that the Spiderweb operation may be reconfigured and deployed by Russia as a hybrid attack on any Nato Eastern flank nation.
“That would be the major Article 5 test that the Alliance has not experienced yet.”
Humiliated Putin was left reeling after Ukraine’s spectacular raid that — after 18 months of planning — inflicted billions of pounds worth of damage, leaving his bomber fleet in tatters.
How Ukraine humiliated Putin
Daring agents smuggled drones and explosives deep inside the sprawling country before unleashing a coordinated assault on June 1.
More than 100 drones were hidden in trucks across Russia before being deployed to five air bases — thousands of kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian operatives smuggled around 150 small strike drones, modular launch systems, and 300 explosive payloads into Russia through covert logistical routes. The drones were concealed inside wooden modular cabins, which were then loaded onto standard cargo trucks.
The operation targeted four strategic air bases and delivered a major blow to Moscow’s long-range bomber fleet. Using small striking drones covertly smuggled into Russia and launched from hidden compartments inside cargo trucks, the operation struck more than 40 high-value aircraft—including strategic bombers Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3, and A-50 planes used for launching and coordinating missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Russia ‘learning from Ukraine’
But a Ukrainian government insider has warned it would also have left Putin’s cronies eager to learn from the clandestine operation — and look to mimic it.
The source said it could spell disaster if Vlad uses it as a blueprint to launch an attack on a European country.
They told The Sun: “We have seen how quickly Russia managed to adapt and learn from Ukraine.
It’s not only Nato states that are learning lessons from Ukraine, it’s the adversaries too.
There was a time when Russia was two months behind Ukraine in its drone technology, now it is ahead with fibreoptic drones.
“Ukraine is catching up and trying to develop techniques to best tackle those.
“We have already seen Russian espionage and sabotage acts in Europe.
“We can now be almost 100 per cent sure that they have taken on the Spiderweb as an example of something they can mimic in, for example, one of the Baltic states.”
‘Attribution will be very hard’
The source warned of the devastating implications: “That’s where the attribution of the operation will be very hard to achieve, but the consequences could be quite significant both for the country/countries in question and for the unity of Nato.”
The insider believes conniving Putin could sign off an assault while world leaders grapple with the spiralling conflict in the Middle East.
With the Trump administration turning its sights to Israel and Iran, and security challenges in China, Europe has largely been left to fend for itself.
After more than a week of Israel and Iran trading blows, Trump unleashed bombs on three nuclear sites in Iran — with Tehran threatening to retaliate.
Putin’s emergency meeting
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, as confirmed by the Kremlin and Iranian state media.
You are visiting Russia at a difficult time, during a sharp aggravation of the situation in the region and around your country,” Putin told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, calling the attacks groundless.
For our part, we are making efforts to assist the Iranian people,” Putin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that “unjustified” U.S. attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites were pushing the world towards great danger and he promised to try to help the Iranian people, although did not spell out how.
‘Millimetres from catastrophe’
Russia has warned the world is “millimetres from catastrophe” following the US strikes, with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claiming countries are now ready to supply Iran with nuclear weapons.
The enrichment of nuclear material—and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons—will continue,” Medvedev, a top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, wrote in his Telegram post.
A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads.
Europe under attack
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has already warned that megalomaniac Putin is set to invest more on defence than his nation’s heath care, education and social policy combined.
She warned lawmakers in Strasbourg, France: “This is a long-term plan for a long-term aggression. You don’t spend that much on military if you do not plan to use it.
Europe is under attack and our continent sits in a world becoming more dangerous.
Both Kallas and the Ukrainian source noted a series of acts of sabotage and cyberattacks — including Russian airspace violations and attacks on energy grids, pipelines and undersea cables.
The insider added: “Russia never misses out on devious and cunning techniques. Especially with the upcoming Nato summit.”
Britain warned
The dire warning comes as Britain has been told it will pay with the blood of its people if more money isn’t spent to bolster the UK’s defence.
Ex-defence secretary Penny Mordaunt has urged the government to “wake up” and fund the UK’s security properly before it’s too late.
As Putin cosies up to Iran’s regime and the Middle East teeters on the brink, the Ukrainian warning serves as a stark reminder that Europe cannot afford to look away from the threat on its eastern borders — even as fires rage elsewhere.
