Operation Spiderweb

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it took 18 months and 9 days from the start of planning to execution of the operation. American and Ukrainian sources say that the United States was not informed in advance about the attacks. According to Ukrainian sources, the plan for the "extremely complex" operation The drones were Ukrainian-made Osa ("Wasp") quadcopters, each with a payload of just over . In Russia approximately 36 were transferred into compartments below the roofs of each of several wooden containers built to resemble regular mobile wooden cabins, which are routinely transported on flatbed trucks with the roofs uncovered. The Wall Street Journal later reported that more than 100 quadcopters had been smuggled in parts into and assembled in Russia. The drones from one of the trucks were attacked by shocked onlookers with stones and small arms fire, the only direct action taken against them. The drones were guided to their targets remotely, using the open source software ArduPilot, which supports navigation via dead reckoning. Zelenskyy said that each drone had its own pilot to launch and command it remotely. using the latest version of technology known for many years. The AI had to be trained in preparation for the operation to teach it to correctly identify its target aircraft and to guide the drone to its vulnerable spots. The Tu-22M3s in the Poltava Museum of Long-Range and Strategic Aviation were used for target recognition training. == Strikes ==

{{OSM Location map|coord=|width=380|height=200|zoom=2|auto-caption=14|nolabels=1|shapeD=n-circle|shape-outlineD=white|mark-sizeD=17|label-colorD=dark blue|label-sizeD=12|label-posD=right As many as 117 first-person view (FPV) and Ukrainka. The SBU claims to have hit more than 40 Russian military aircraft, including Tu-160, Tu-95, and Tu-22M strategic bombers, and A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft. One drone's footage showed it landing on a Tu-95 bomber's wing close to the fuel tanks; that of others soon followed. The drones attacked with very high precision; each pilot, working from Ukraine, aimed at vulnerable points such as fuel tanks in the wings. Video released by SBU show Tu-95 bombers armed with Kh-101 cruise missiles being destroyed; the large fireballs also imply that the tanks were full, suggesting that the aircraft had been prepared to conduct strikes. Immediately following the attacks Russian officials announced a state of emergency at Engels and Morozovsk air bases. Zelenskyy said that an 'office' for the operation was located near an office of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and that 34% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers stationed at airbases had been hit. and according to the OSINT project AviVector, as of May 26, two Tu-95MSs, three Tu-160s, and two Su-34s were based at the airbase. The attack on Olenya was carried out with the drones launching from a truck at a gas station. There were at least 10 explosions. The authorities forbade the public from entering or leaving Olenegorsk. Residents of Olenegorsk reported explosions and fire with a video of the aftermath being later published. Ivanovo Severny An attack was reported on the Ivanovo Severny air base near Ivanovo, According to The Moscow Times, the A-50 was likely hit here. On 4 June the Security Service of Ukraine published video footage claimed to be from Ivanovo Severny in which two FPV drones touch down on two A-50 radar domes. It is unclear if the A-50s damaged were in a usable state, with at least one missing engines and both having worn radomes. Ukrainka The attack on the Ukrainka air base (near Seryshevo in Amur Oblast) failed when the truck carrying the drones caught fire and exploded. According to the OSINT project AviVector, the day before the attack there were 52 strategic aircraft (35 Tu-22M3 bombers, 6 Tu-95MS bombers, and 7 Tu-160 bombers), 30 MiG-31 fighters, and 8 auxiliary and transport aircraft at the airbase. and three possibly destroyed Tu-22M3 bombers. On 4 June, combined analysis of synthetic aperture radar and Maxar satellite imagery showed destruction of four Tu-22M3 and three Tu-95MS as well as one possibly damaged Tu-95MS. The local governor confirmed the attack and stated that a fragment of a drone that had been shot down damaged the roof of a residential building, with no injuries. The Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers based there == Aftermath ==

Ukrainian officials said that the strikes damaged one-third of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers, estimated to be worth billion, with $2000 drones. The Tupolev Tu-95MS and Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers have been out of production for decades and cannot be replaced. Some commentators and Russian military bloggers called the event Russia's Pearl Harbor. The Russian Ministry of Defence referred to the operation as a "terrorist attack", noting attacks on air bases in five regions of Russia but claiming that the attacks had been repelled in three of the regions. It confirmed damage to aircraft at the Olenya and Belaya air bases. The Russian defence ministry said that there were no casualties in the attacks they admitted, in the regions of Murmansk and Irkutsk, and that several "participants" had been arrested, although President Zelenskyy said that all operatives had safely been withdrawn from Russia. It was later confirmed that four of the truck drivers had been detained and faced charges of terrorism; the fifth driver died when his truck caught fire. As of January 2026, at least two remain in pre-trial detention and face potential sentences of 12-20 years. An article published by Russia's Pravda.ru pointed out that attacks on nuclear-capable aircraft could undermine the effectiveness of Russia's nuclear forces, and "According to the 'Basic Principles of the State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence,' such actions fall under conditions that may justify the use of nuclear weapons". On 4 June 2025, U.S. president Donald Trump initiated a long call with Putin which dealt mainly with the attack. "I just finished speaking, by telephone, with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The call lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes. We discussed the attack on Russia's airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides." He stated that Putin told him that Russia would retaliate. The Kremlin confirmed the phone call, but a transcript has not been released and the Moscow-Washington hotline was not mentioned. On 6 June 2025, it was reported in Newsweek that the Ukrainian Air Force had said that "Russia used a Tu-160 in intensive overnight missile and drone strikes across Ukraine", Further, the report in Newsweek said that Russia had moved its strategic bomber force further east, potentially to reduce the risk of follow on attacks. However, former intelligence analyst Frank Ledwidge noted in the same article that the move could be part of a planned rotation or normal security move. == Analysis ==

According to the Financial Times, the damaged and destroyed aircraft made up around 20% of Russia's operational long-range aviation fleet. Many of the aircraft types affected, such as the Tu-95 and Tu-22M3, have not been produced since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, making them impossible to replace and exceptionally difficult to repair. Indeed, many sources report that Russia "has relocated dozens of its strategic bombers to more remote airbases across the country". Fabian Hoffmann at the University of Oslo commented that the loss of the bombers attacked was particularly damaging as they were the most operational examples; many others were undergoing maintenance. == Gallery ==

File:2025-06-01 DroneAttack SBU.jpg|Burning Tu-95s at Olenya air base File:Operation Spider's Web, Tu-22 type bomber at Belaya air base.png|Tu-22M3 targeted at Belaya air base File:Operation Spider's Web, Tu-22 type bombers under attack at Belaya air base.png|Belaya air base under attack File:Operation Spider's Web, Tu-22 type bomber at Dyagilevo air base.png|Tu-22M3 targeted at Dyagilevo air base File:Operation Spider's Web, two A-50 at Ivanovo Severny air base.png|A-50 targeted at Ivanovo Severny air base == See also ==