In what President Volodymyr Zelensky described as their longest-range operation to date, Ukrainian security forces launched a major drone strike against Russian military airbases on Sunday, striking thousands of kilometers from the front line. Months of planning and the smuggling of drones into Russian territory were necessary for the operation, which was code-named “Spider’s Web.” Here are some facts regarding the strikes, which took place the night before Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire.
What destruction did drones cause?
Although Ukraine has reported severe damage, it is now hard to objectively confirm. The synchronized assaults targeted 41 aircraft used to bomb Ukrainian cities, according to a source in Ukraine’s SBU security service, who also mentioned the A-50 radar detection and command aircraft and the Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers.
Russia’s defense ministry stated that a drone strike at facilities in the eastern Siberian and Russian Arctic areas of Murmansk and Irkutsk caused many planes to catch fire. According to the ministry, there were no injuries from the fires, and suspects had been taken into custody. According to Ukrainian security agencies, they destroyed 34% of Russian strategic bombers that were carrying cruise missiles and caused $7 billion in damages.
How the lethal operation was carried out and planned?
The Ukrainian SBU source claimed that the “Spider’s Web” operation had been planned for more than a year and a half and that it had included very intricate logistics. In reaction to the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine frequently used drones to target targets in Russia, but this time, the strategy was different.
Drones have been transported into Russia and concealed in wooden constructions mounted on trucks, according to a Ukrainian security source. The drones were then allowed to fly approach their targets by remotely opening the roofs of the structures.
Numerous tiny black drones are concealed in what appear to be transport containers in images released by the SBU. Russia’s military ministry verified that the drones were fired “in the immediate vicinity of the airbases” rather than from Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky praised the operation’s outstanding outcomes on Sunday, calling it “our most long-range operation” in almost three years of conflict. Ukraine’s strikes usually target places near its borders, but with 117 drones, it was able to reach areas thousands of kilometers from the front.
Olenya and Belaya, two of the airbases Ukraine claimed to have attacked, are around 1,900 and 4,300 kilometers away from Ukraine, respectively. One is in eastern Siberia, and the other is in the Russian Arctic. Other attacks in the areas of Ivanovo and Ryazan, as well as in Amur, close to the Chinese border in the Russian Far East, were effectively repelled, according to the Russian ministry.
At this point, it is hard to predict how the strikes may affect Russian military capability. In recent weeks, Ukraine’s air defense capabilities have been put to the test due to nearly daily air assaults. Following the Ukrainian strike, Russian military bloggers bemoaned a “black day” for aviation. However, Ukraine’s army has been suffering on the front, so the symbolic meaning is significant.
