Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported on Sunday that over a third of all Russian missile carriers have been hit in a coordinated drone attack aimed at different airfields in Russia located thousands of kilometres apart.
More than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including the A-50, Tu-95, and Tu-22 M3, causing overall damage of more than €6 billion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “Operation Spiderweb” had made “an absolutely brilliant result” which was “achieved solely by Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian president also shared more details on how the operation was carried out, explaining that 117 drones had been used, each with its own pilot.
“The most interesting thing — and we can already say this publicly — is that the ‘office’ of our operation on Russian territory was located right next to the FSB (Federal Security Service) of Russia, in one of their regions,” he said in a post on Telegram.
In a major blow to Russia’s security services, Zelenskyy said Ukraine managed not only to execute the operation but also to safely withdraw the people involved. They were operating “in different Russian regions — in three time zones.”
“Our most long-range operation. Our people involved in preparing the operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time,” he explained.
Zelenskyy said it took Kyiv “one year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution.”
He thanked the head of Ukraine’s Security Service, General Vasyl Malyuk, and asked him to reveal the details and results of the operation to the public.
“Of course, not everything can be revealed at this moment, but these are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books,” he added.
“Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so — we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war. Russia started this war, Russia must end it,” Zelenskyy wrote.
What we know so far about Operation Spiderweb
Although Ukraine’s security service has not revealed more details at this stage, Ukrainian outlets are reporting exactly how the operation was executed, referencing SBU sources.
According to these reports, first-person-view (FPV) drones were smuggled deep inside Russia and hidden inside trucks in mobile log cabins.
The cabins’ roofs were then opened remotely, and the drones proceeded to launch their attack on Russian military bombers.
Russia’s Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev confirmed that the drones that attacked a military base in Siberia’s Sredniy were launched from inside a truck. In a post on Telegram, he said that the launch site had been secured and there was no further threat to people’s lives.
Russian outlets also reported that other attacks were launched in a similar manner, with drones emerging from the backs of trucks.
Social media footage widely shared by Russian media appears to show the drones rising from inside containers, while the panels lie discarded on the road. One clip appeared to show men climbing onto a truck in an attempt to intercept the drones.
SBU head General Vasyl Malyuk looking at the photos of Russian bombers and the airfields. – Ukraine Security Service
SBU operations
“Operation Spiderweb” is not the first unconventional operation to be carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service.
In October 2022, the SBU struck the Kerch bridge, which had been illegally built by Russia after its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The explosion, which Russian authorities said was caused by a truck bomb, badly damaged the bridge which links Moscow-occupied Crimea and Russia.
The targeting of Russian bombers, which have been carrying out massive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, was previously considered almost unthinkable. Moscow had made sure to keep them well out of the range of Kyiv’s weapons, both homemade and those supplied by allies.
Olenya air base is located in Russia’s Murmansk region, around 2,000 km from the border with Ukraine. Belaya air base is in Russia’s Irkutsk region, in south-eastern Siberia and over 4,000 km east of the frontline. These two airfields were among the hardest hit during Sunday’s operation.
Another notable aspect of the “Operation Spiderweb” was the choice of weapons. Kyiv used FPV drones, which are produced in Ukraine en masse and are widely used and appreciated by the military due to their affordability.
FPV drones typically cost only a few hundred euros, while a Russian A50 radar detection aircraft, which was reportedly hit today along with other planes, costs over €300 million.
Ukraine’s presidential advisor and former minister of strategic industries Oleksandr Kamyshin has said Ukrainian manufacturers have the capacity to produce over 5 million FPV drones per year.
