Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson, now reportedly affiliated with Russian state interests, has stirred controversy by alleging that the recent Ukrainian drone strike — which purportedly destroyed up to 34% of Russia’s air force assets — was orchestrated by Western intelligence agencies, including the CIA, MI6, and Mossad.
In statements shared through pro-Russian media channels, Johnson claimed that Ukraine lacked the capability to conduct such a high-precision, high-impact operation independently.
He asserted that coordination, planning, and technological support from U.S., British, and Israeli intelligence services were likely behind the dramatic aerial assault, which targeted a key Russian airbase.
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The drone strike, while not independently verified to have caused the level of damage claimed by Johnson, has been widely reported as one of the most successful long-range operations by Ukrainian forces in recent months.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has downplayed the scale of the destruction, while Ukrainian officials have remained deliberately vague about the attack’s origin and operational details.
Johnson’s remarks have drawn strong criticism from Western analysts and intelligence veterans, who argue that such accusations serve to deflect from vulnerabilities within Russia’s own defense infrastructure and overstate the role of foreign operatives in Ukraine’s ongoing war efforts.
Analysts say the former CIA operative’s claims echo Kremlin narratives that attempt to frame the Ukraine conflict as a broader proxy war driven by NATO and its allies — a theme that plays well with domestic Russian audiences.
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