Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine holds “no cards in this war”.

Well, they just played one hell of a hand.

On Sunday, a clandestine drone operation hit as many as five different airfields deep inside Russian territory, striking at least eight and possibly dozens of Soviet-era nuclear-capable heavy bombers, which are today impossible to remanufacture.

And the way Ukraine did so is worthy of a Robert Ludlam thriller.

Its domestic security service smuggled in 150 First Person View (FPV) drones in concealed compartments on the top of multiple shipping containers, undetected by Russia’s own sprawling counterintelligence organs, which were then loaded on the backs of articulated lorries and driven to within striking distance of their targets.

At the push of a button, the tops of the containers popped off, allowing a swarm of lethal unmanned aerial vehicles to ascend which then struck their unsuspecting targets; lines of Russian bombers fully fueled and awaiting takeoff.