Practically every account of Ukraine’s spectacularly successful June 1 sneak attack that destroyed or disabled as much as a third of Russia’s long-range bomber fleet invoked the adjective “audacious” to describe how the ingeniously devised plan was pulled off without a hitch.

Ukraine said its “Operation Spiderweb” attacked Russian warplanes worth hundreds of millions of dollars, utilizing drones that each cost under $1,000 and were launched from wooden containers carried o