Ukraine hits air bases thousands of miles inside Russia in audacious military operation
Ukrainian forces have destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes parked at air bases thousands of miles from the front lines, according to a source in the country’s security services, in one of Kyiv’s most audacious and sophisticated counter assaults since the beginning of the war.
The operation, dubbed “Spiderweb,” saw drones hit targets across a large swathe of Russia, including in Belaya – which is closer to Japan than Ukraine – and at Olenya base near Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, according to the source.
More than 40 Russian aircraft were “burning en masse” at four air bases, the source said.
The SBU, Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, said the strikes caused an estimated $7 billion in damages and hit 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers at its main air bases.
The drone attacks came on the eve of expected peace talks in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine, which were already strained by uncertainty and pressure from US President Donald Trump.
The strikes appear intended to send a message to Russia that Ukraine could still apply pressure more than three years since Russia’s unprovoked invasion. Kyiv has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of not wanting to end the war as Moscow ramps up its attacks and offensive operations, including launching its largest drone assault on Ukraine since the war began overnight Saturday.
The operation, more than a year and a half in the making, involved drones being smuggled into Russian territory and hidden in wooden mobile houses atop trucks, according to the security source. The roofs were then remotely opened, and the drones deployed to launch their strikes.
Social media video geolocated by CNN to seven kilometers southeast of the Belaya Air Base in Russia’s eastern Irkutsk region, appears to show a drone flying out of a wooden shed loaded onto a truck as smoke rises in the background. Images also show drones stacked inside what appear to be wooden crates with retractable roofs ahead of the operation.
“The planning, organization, and all the details were perfectly prepared. It can be confidently said that this was an absolutely unique operation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X.
Zelensky said 117 drones were used to carry out the attacks, which were played up as a military and propaganda win for Ukraine that caught Russia off-guard.
“The ‘office’ of our operation on Russian territory was located directly next to FSB headquarters in one of their regions,” Zelensky said on X.
More than 40 aircraft were known to have been hit, according to the Security source, including TU-95 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers and one of Russia’s few remaining A-50 surveillance planes.
“We are doing everything to drive the enemy from our native land! We will strike them at sea, in the air, and on land. And if needed — we’ll reach them even from underground,” the SBU said in a statement.
A senior US defense official told CNN that Ukraine’s attack showed a level of sophistication that they had not seen before.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth received regular updates as he traveled to Joint Base Andrews on Sunday but has not yet spoken to his Ukrainian counterparts, the official said.
