WATCH: Russian Jets Blown to Bits One-by-One as Ukraine Launches Crippling Drone Blitz
New video footage shows the devastation caused by Ukraine’s audacious and long-planned drone attack on Russian military airfields in a daring mission that penetrated deep into the country.
More than 40 warplanes, including Russia’s Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, were reportedly damaged or destroyed across four airbases in Murmansk and Irkutsk, thousands of miles from Ukraine’s border. The operation came just one day before peace talks were due to begin in Istanbul and marks a significant moment in the three-year war.
Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, the SBU, said the mission had taken over 18 months to plan. Drones were reportedly smuggled across the border and concealed under wooden shed roofs mounted on trucks, before being activated remotely at the perimeter of the Russian bases.
The operation, codenamed “Spiderweb,” involved 117 drones and dozens of covert operators, all of whom have reportedly been exfiltrated safely.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the offensive targeted “34 per cent of the strategic cruise missile carriers at the airfields,” adding: “We had been preparing the operation for more than a year and a half. Planning, organisation, all the details were perfectly prepared. I can say for sure that this is a completely unique operation.”
Footage verified by Ukrainian officials showed bombers in flames, while intercepted Russian audio reportedly captured one soldier summing up the devastation: “It’s fucked here.”
The Russian defense ministry acknowledged the attacks and confirmed several aircraft had “caught fire.” It claimed there were no casualties and that arrests had been made.
The strikes coincided with reports of sabotage on Russian rail infrastructure, including two train derailments that left seven dead, which Moscow is treating as “terrorist acts.” Russia also launched its largest single-night drone barrage of the war, with 472 drones and seven missiles targeting Ukraine.
Watch above via X.
