Ukraine’s ‘Spider’s Web’ Operation: Drone Strike Damages 41 Russian Warplanes

Moscow: Ukraine’s secret services on Sunday launched a destructive drone strike on multiple Russian airbases deep inside Russian territory, damaging at least 41 warplanes. The operation, code-named ‘Spider’s Web’, targeted four Russian airbases, including the Belaya air base in Russia’s Irkutsk region, over 4300 km from the front lines.

According to a Ukrainian security official, the mission was personally overseen by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vasyl Maliuk, head of Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency SBU. The Ukrainian operatives used an inventive method to bypass distance limitations, concealing explosive-laden drones inside the roofs of wooden sheds, which were then transported on trucks to the perimeters of targeted airfields.

Once in place, the shed roofs were remotely activated to release swarms of quadrocopter drones that launched coordinated attacks on strategic bombers stationed at the sites. Photographs and footage provided by the Ukrainian official show the elaborate setup: dozens of short-range drones stockpiled in an industrial warehouse, and the wooden sheds with their metal roofing removed, revealing drones nestled between the beams.

The strike on the Irkutsk air base is particularly notable, given the extraordinary distance from Ukrainian-held territory, suggesting the drones were pre-positioned close to the bases-well beyond the range of conventional Ukrainian drones or ballistic missiles. Visuals shared online and by Ukrainian sources show strategic bombers, including what appear to be Tu-95 aircraft, ablaze on the tarmac.

Russia has acknowledged the strikes, with the Russian Defence Ministry confirming Ukraine had launched drone attacks against military airfields across five regions: Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur. According to the ministry, air defences successfully repelled the drones in all but the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, where the launch of FPV (First Person View) drones from nearby locations led to several aircraft catching fire.

The resulting blazes were extinguished, and no casualties were reported. Russian state-operated media outlet Tass reported that the driver of a truck believed to be involved in the drone attack will be questioned by police.

This dramatic Ukrainian strike came just a week after Russia carried out its largest aerial bombardment of the war, firing 367 missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities. That attack killed at least 13 civilians, including three children, and left widespread destruction across Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and other cities, despite Ukrainian air defences shooting down the majority of the projectiles.