Nathalie Ketrouef

From The New York Times, I'm Nathalie Ketrouef. This is The Daily. Today, the story of Operation Spider's Web, an audacious sneak attack by Ukraine that caused billions of dollars in damage to Russian warplanes, with drones that cost as little as $600. My colleague Mark Santora explains why this strike is already being seen as a defining moment in the evolution of modern warfare.

From The New York Times, I'm Nathalie Ketrouef. This is The Daily. Today, the story of Operation Spider's Web, an audacious sneak attack by Ukraine that caused billions of dollars in damage to Russian warplanes, with drones that cost as little as $600. My colleague Mark Santora explains why this strike is already being seen as a defining moment in the evolution of modern warfare.

It's Wednesday, June 4th. Mark, we're coming to you because you are one of the correspondents who has been on the ground for the longest in Ukraine. You've been reporting from the front lines, embedding with the Ukrainian military. And we now know what happened this past Sunday was unlike anything we have seen so far in this war.

It's Wednesday, June 4th. Mark, we're coming to you because you are one of the correspondents who has been on the ground for the longest in Ukraine. You've been reporting from the front lines, embedding with the Ukrainian military. And we now know what happened this past Sunday was unlike anything we have seen so far in this war.

You and a team of reporters have been working to uncover exactly what went down, how it went down, and I want to get to those specifics here today. But first, can you just take us through the events as you experienced them on Sunday?

You and a team of reporters have been working to uncover exactly what went down, how it went down, and I want to get to those specifics here today. But first, can you just take us through the events as you experienced them on Sunday?

Okay, so a very big deal attack carried out in what seems to be a pretty sophisticated way. How did this happen, Mark? How did Ukraine pull this off?

Okay, so a very big deal attack carried out in what seems to be a pretty sophisticated way. How did this happen, Mark? How did Ukraine pull this off?

Wow. It's like a countdown to an attack on your phone live.

Wow. It's like a countdown to an attack on your phone live.

So it sounds like the Ukrainian government looks at this problem and says, okay, this is what we need to solve. How do we stop these long-range missile attacks from these Russian bombers?

So it sounds like the Ukrainian government looks at this problem and says, okay, this is what we need to solve. How do we stop these long-range missile attacks from these Russian bombers?

But, Mark, how does this strategy, while successful on the front lines, get at that original problem we were talking about, which is striking Russia where it hurts in Russian territory, hitting these bombers?

But, Mark, how does this strategy, while successful on the front lines, get at that original problem we were talking about, which is striking Russia where it hurts in Russian territory, hitting these bombers?

So again, the solution isn't there yet.

So again, the solution isn't there yet.

We'll be right back. Okay, Mark, take us inside this operation, Operation Spider's Web.

We'll be right back. Okay, Mark, take us inside this operation, Operation Spider's Web.

Okay, so you said step two was training the drones. What did that look like?

Okay, so you said step two was training the drones. What did that look like?