New Delhi: Ukraine on Sunday carried out the largest single attack on Russian airpower since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. It launched drones from within Russian territory, which were reportedly smuggled in trucks and hidden under mobile wooden structures. These drone struck at least 41 military aircraft at air bases deep inside Russia. These included Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers and the A-50 radar detection and command aircraft.
The covert operation was code-named “Spider’s web” by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU). A Ukrainian military official told the Associated Press that the attack took over 18 months to plan and was personally overseen by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In his evening address, President Zelenskyy confirmed that 117 drones were used in the operation, which he said was launched from a site located right next to a local FSB (Russia’s intelligence agency) headquarters. Russia confirmed that five of its airfields in Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions were targeted by Kyiv using first-person-view (FPV) drones.
The modus operandi
Ukraine frequently launches drone strikes on targets inside Russia. However, the method adopted this time was quite different.
Ukrainian SBU sources said that the planning of the operation needed complex logistics. FPV drones were sneaked into Russia long before the attack was executed. They were assembled into mobile wooden houses mounted on trucks. The drones were hidden under retractable roofs, cleverly concealed in plain sight.
The source told AP: “At the right moment, the roofs of the houses were remotely opened, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers.” Social media videos circulated by Russian media apparently substantiate the claim, showing drones rising from container – like compartments on trucks, with debris and panels scattered on surrounding roads. One of the videos apparently shows men climbing onto a truck in a bid to stop the drones from launching. However, the footage has not yet been independently verified.
This will be in textbooks.
Ukraine secretly delivered FPV drones and wooden mobile cabins into Russia. The drones were hidden under the roofs of the cabins, which were later mounted on trucks.
At the signal, the roofs opened remotely. Dozens of drones launched directly from the… pic.twitter.com/sJyG3WyYYI
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) June 1, 2025
The stealth and audacity of the operation — using trucks to smuggle thousands of kilometers into Russian territory and strike air bases housing strategic bomber fleets — marks a significant escalation in Kyiv’s covert operational capabilities.
#BreakingNews #Ukraine just hit #Russia’s nuclear-capable bomber bases 1,800–4,000km deep inside 🇷🇺
Targets: Tu-22M3, Tu-95MS, Tu-160.
Method: FPV drone swarms launched from stealth truck-mounted cabins.
Result: 40+ aircraft claimed hit.
Massive retaliation expected from 🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/sNrD1nPiQF
— ʋɛʀǟƈɨօʊֆ (@conscientious1o) June 1, 2025
‘$7 billion damage’
Ukraine’s SBU security service has asserted that it has struck Russian military planes worth a combined $7 billion in drone strikes. “$7 billion: This is the estimated cost of the enemy’s strategic aviation, which was hit today as a result of the SBU’s special operation,” the agency wrote in a social media post.
