‘Spiderweb’ operation is Kyiv’s Sputnik
First the Russians had their Sputnik moment, then recently the Chinese with Deepseek; now the Ukrainians have their unprecedented ‘Spiderweb’ operation that marks a major shift in warfare.
The Ukrainian strike on Russian strategic aviation is unprecedented. It has clearly increased the cost of war for the Russians, said Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The senior EU diplomat Kaja Kallas highlighted that Ukrainian drone strikes were “rewriting military history.”
She pointed out that drones costing only a few thousand dollars had destroyed aircraft worth millions of euros.
“So I think this clearly increases the cost for the Russians again, so that they also want peace,” she added.
Commenting on the possibility of reprisals from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ms Kallas stressed that Russia had consistently targeted Ukrainian civilians with drones and missiles. She also noted that the West’s response should be to exert even greater pressure on Russia to push it towards seeking peace as well.
As BBC reports, on 1 June more than 100 Ukrainian drones struck air bases deep inside Russia, targeting nuclear-capable long-range bombers.
The scale of the operation dubbed “Spider Web” became clear almost as soon as it began, with explosions reported across several time zones all over Russia – as far north as Murmansk above the Arctic Circle, and as far east as Irkutsk, over 4,000km from Ukraine.
The operation
Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, said the drones were first smuggled into Russia, then placed inside wooden cabins mounted on the back of lorries and concealed below remotely operated detachable roofs.
The lorries were then apparently driven to locations near airbases by drivers who were seemingly unaware of their cargo; then, the drones were launched and set upon their targets.
Videos circulating online show drones emerging from the roof of one of the vehicles involved. One lorry driver interviewed by Russian state outlet Ria Novosti said he and other drivers tried to knock down drones flying out of a lorry with rocks.
“They were in the back of the truck and we threw stones to keep them from flying up, to keep them pinned down,” he said.
According to unverified reports by Russian Telegram channel Baza – which is known for its links to the security services – the drivers of the lorries from which the drones took off all told similar stories of being booked by businessmen to deliver wooden cabins in various locations around Russia.‘
What made this attack “quite extraordinary” was the ability to smuggle them into Russia and then launch and command them remotely – which he concluded had been achieved through a link relayed through a satellite or the internet. Zelensky said each of the 117 drones launched had its own pilot.
It was suggested the drones were able to fly in using GPS but may have also overcome localised Russian jamming measures by manually piloting drones remotely.
Kyiv has not shared details on the origin of the drones, but since the start of the war Ukraine has become extremely efficient at manufacturing them – and it is possible the ones used in this operation were produced at home.
According to Ukraine, 41 strategic bombers were hit and “at least” 13 destroyed. Moscow has not confirmed any losses of aircraft beyond saying some planes had been damaged.
Videos verified by the BBC show damaged aircraft at the Olenegorsk air base in Murmansk and the Belaya air base in Irkutsk.
Joel
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