How Ukrainian drones struck multiple Russian airbases in Kyiv's most daring operation yet

Ukraine successfully carried out a drone assault deep into Russian territory on Sunday, targeting strategic airbases and dealing one of the most significant blows to Moscow’s military aviation assets since the start of the war.

The attack, described by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “brilliant” and “absolutely unique operation,” comes just ahead of renewed peace negotiations between the two countries in Istanbul.

How Ukraine carried out the operation

The aerial assault was the result of planning that took more than 18 months, Ukrainian officials confirmed. The attack was executed under the codename “Spider’s Web” (also referred to as “Web” in some official communications) and targeted four key Russian airbases spread across multiple time zones.

The long-range mission struck airfields in the Irkutsk region of Siberia, Olenya in the Arctic, and Ivanovo and Dyagilevo east of Moscow.

According to a military source who spoke anonymously to The Associated Press, the entire operation was supervised personally by Zelenskyy.

It involved the smuggling of first-person view (FPV) drones into Russian territory, where they were concealed inside mobile wooden sheds. These sheds were then mounted on trucks and transported to airfield perimeters.

“Later, drones were hidden under the roofs of these houses while already placed on trucks. At the right moment, the roofs of the houses were remotely opened, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers,” the official said.

Supporting video and images circulating on Russian social media platforms showed drones launching vertically from the trucks, with roofing panels strewn nearby on the ground.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which claimed responsibility for the strike, estimated the total damage at approximately $7 billion and stated that 34 per cent of Russia’s fleet of strategic missile carriers had been hit.

These included Tu-95 and Tu-22M bombers, which Russia has used extensively for missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, as well as A-50 aircraft that serve as airborne command and control centres.

How damaged is Russia’s strategic aviation

Ukraine’s drone offensive resulted in direct hits on 41 aircraft stationed at Russian military airbases. Among the targeted planes were Tu-95 “Bear” bombers and Tu-22M supersonic aircraft.

Both have been central to Russia’s aerial campaign against Ukraine, delivering long-range cruise missile attacks. A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft were also struck, a serious blow to Russian coordination and radar surveillance capabilities.

Video shared by a Ukrainian security source with Reuters showed large bombers ablaze on the tarmac. While the footage could not be independently verified, its visual matches to satellite imagery of Russian bases suggest it was filmed at the Belaya airfield in the Irkutsk region.

Photographs provided by the source showed numerous quadcopter drones staged inside a warehouse prior to deployment.

Other images displayed the wooden shed structures with their metal roofing removed, exposing drones inside the roof cavity. Social media clips on Russian Telegram channels appeared to confirm this deployment method.

Russian authorities acknowledged attacks on airbases in Irkutsk and Murmansk regions. Additionally, the Russian Ministry of Defence said air defence systems repelled drone strikes in the Amur region in the Far East and in the western territories of Ivanovo and Ryazan.

These regions lie thousands of kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

Igor Kobzev, governor of the Irkutsk region, confirmed a drone assault on a military unit near Sredny village, close to the Belaya base, and noted that drones had been launched from a truck.

100% made in Ukraine

Zelenskyy pointed out that the entire attack had been developed and executed by Ukrainian forces without foreign military involvement. “It’s genuinely satisfying when something I authorised a year and six months ago comes to fruition and deprives Russians of over forty units of strategic aviation. We will continue this work,” he wrote in a post on X.

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy stated that 117 drones were used in the assault and hailed the operation as Ukraine’s longest-range strike to date.

“This is our longest-range operation,” Zelenskyy noted, adding that all personnel involved in the planning and execution had been safely evacuated from Russia shortly before the strike.

He also disclosed that the operation had been coordinated from an office positioned next to a local Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) branch — a daring detail meant to highlight the proximity and effectiveness of Ukraine’s covert activities.

“This is an absolutely brilliant outcome,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post. “And an outcome produced by Ukraine independently.”

How Russia responded

Russia launched what Ukraine’s air force called the largest drone barrage since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces fired 472 drones and seven missiles across various Ukrainian targets on Sunday. The head of communications for Ukraine’s Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, confirmed these figures in a press briefing.

A particularly deadly Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian army training unit killed at least 12 service members and wounded more than 60. The unit was located away from the front lines, but remained within reach of Russian reconnaissance and strike drones.

Following the attack, Ukrainian army commander Mykhailo Drapatyi submitted his resignation.

Ukraine has faced an ongoing shortage of troops and often avoids concentrated troop gatherings to reduce visibility to Russian aerial reconnaissance. “The skies across the front line are saturated with Russian drones looking for targets,” a military spokesperson said.

In a separate series of overnight incidents in Russian territory, drone debris caused fires and infrastructure damage in the Kursk and Voronezh regions. In Kursk, 57 drones were shot down, and falling wreckage ignited fires in residential areas.

In Voronezh, 16 drones were intercepted, but debris severed power lines that collapsed onto the M-4 expressway — a vital transport link. Both regional governors confirmed the incidents and stated there were no injuries.

What this means for Russia-Ukraine peace talks

Also on Sunday, Russian authorities reported the collapse of two bridges in separate regions — Bryansk and Kursk — both bordering Ukraine. The incidents caused train derailments and at least seven deaths.

Russia’s Investigative Committee initially attributed the incidents to “explosions,” but later removed the term from its official press release, refraining from confirming the cause.

The large-scale Ukrainian drone operation occurred just ahead of a scheduled round of direct peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul. Zelenskyy confirmed that Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would lead the Ukrainian delegation.

“We are doing everything to protect our independence, our state and our people,” Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram. Kyiv has demanded that Moscow provide a written memorandum outlining its position prior to negotiations.

Zelenskyy also reiterated Ukraine’s readiness for a ceasefire: “Not for a single second did we want this war. Since March 11, the US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire has been on the table. It was the Russians who chose to continue the war.”

He continued, “Pressure is truly needed, pressure on Russia that should bring it back to reality. Pressure through sanctions. Pressure from our forces. Pressure through diplomacy. All of it must work together.”

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth was briefed on the attack while visiting Nellis Air Force Base. A senior American defence official said that Washington was not given advance warning of the Ukrainian drone strikes and noted that the technical complexity of the operation was unlike anything previously seen in the conflict.

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With inputs from agencies