What Led to Ukraine's 'Massive' Strike on Russian Aviation Assets?

Synopsis
In a groundbreaking operation, Ukraine has executed a meticulously planned strike against Russian strategic assets, marking a significant escalation in the conflict. This operation, which took over a year to prepare, involved innovative tactics including drone deployment from hidden mobile cabins. Discover the intricate details of this unprecedented military maneuver.
Key Takeaways
- Ukraine's Operation: A planned strike on Russian assets.
- Innovative Tactics: Use of drones hidden in mobile cabins.
- Significant Damage: Estimated losses over $2 billion.
- Strategic Targets: Included key bomber aircraft.
- Geopolitical Impact: Shift in military strategy observed.
Kyiv, June 1 (NationPress) Ukraine's extensive strike on Russian strategic assets throughout the nation was a carefully orchestrated operation that took more than a year to prepare, reportedly involving the deployment of drones near their targets.
According to X user Maria Avdeeva, a self-proclaimed security expert who has been monitoring the invasion since day one and combating Russian misinformation since 2014, Ukraine had stealthily transported FPV drones and wooden mobile cabins into Russia. The drones were concealed under the roofs of these cabins, which were subsequently placed on trucks.
“At the designated time, the roofs opened remotely. Numerous drones were launched directly from the trucks, targeting strategic bomber aircraft. Furthermore, Russia can no longer produce these bombers. The losses are enormous. This is unprecedented,” Avdeeva stated in a post on X.
Earlier that day, Ukraine's secret service, the SBU, announced: “Enemy strategic bombers are burning extensively in Russia.”
Ukraine is executing “a large-scale special operation focused on eliminating enemy bomber aircraft,” it added.
According to the BBC, sources from the SBU indicated that the operation, dubbed “Spider’s Web,” took a year and a half to arrange and was directly overseen by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The sources revealed that the SBU initially smuggled the FPV drones into Russia, followed by the mobile wooden cabins.
Once inside Russian territory, the drones were hidden beneath the roofs of these cabins, which had been mounted on trucks. At the moment of the assault, the roofs were opened remotely, enabling the drones to launch and strike the nearby airbases, the BBC reported.
Ukraine estimates that the damage from these attacks exceeds $2 billion, targeting airfields as far north as Murmansk and as far east as Siberia, hitting key aviation assets such as the strategic bomber TU-95, the supersonic long-range bomber TU-22M3, and early warning and control aircraft A-50.
Russia's Defence Ministry stated that airfields in the Murmansk Region, as well as in the Ivanovo and Ryazan regions in central Russia, along with the Irkutsk Region in Siberia and the Amur Region in the Far East, were attacked but claimed the assaults were “repelled,” though some “material damage” to the planes occurred. No further details were provided.