Sunday morning wake up to all kinds of war chatter.
The special operation "Spiderweb", as a result of which the SBU reportedly hit 41 Russian strategic bombers, was prepared for more than a year and a half. A strategic setback for Russia? A significant part — maybe even the majority of its airworthy strategic bomber fleet (part of the nuclear triad) appears to have been destroyed today involving FPV drones smuggled into Russia via trucks.
SBU claims that today’s strikes destroyed 34% of Russia’s strategic bombers that can carry cruise missiles. And they supposedly have peace talks in Istanbul tomorrow. LOL! If true I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that meeting!
Any op like this would require ISR only the United States could provide, and constant updates all the way up until the decision to launch the operation was made and then additional ISR from the US to assess the outcome. In other words, the US enabled this attack on Russia's strategic bombers while pretending to mediate amid its own proxy war on Russia. There is also evidence the drones used satellite communication to control them remotely, meaning US-based Starlink.
There are many ways to do this, the ground station might have been located where the drones launched, relaying control signals to the drones using traditional signals after receiving commands from the satellite signal.
A signal would go from an operator in Ukraine -> Starlink satellite -> Starlink ground station at launch site -> launch site signal relay -> drone.
Hence the latency that appears in some of the videos I've seen.
This is speculation at this point, it will take time for all details to emerge.
The threat of drones smuggled into Russia to threaten assets far from Ukraine has been a persistent threat for years regardless of the details of specific attacks.
There may also be AI involved, training involving US-provided satellite imagery could have allowed drones to approach the airport, identify aircraft and attack specific parts like the wings automatically. This would have the added benefit of circumventing electronic warfare employed against traditional drone signals.
![[Image: U0PaXhC.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/U0PaXhC.jpg)
Full article: Russian Strategic Bombers Destroyed In Unprecedented Wide-Scale Drone Attack (Updated)
Telegram post by Ukraine Security Service (translated to English, obviously not entirely correct)
![[Image: dWKRth9.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/dWKRth9.jpg)
![[Image: oiWe2T3.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/oiWe2T3.jpg)
https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/192...7785465076
![[Image: JzylREN.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/JzylREN.jpg)
https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/1929134389495222726
![[Image: x8eDxeI.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/x8eDxeI.jpg)
https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/192...5257109586
![[Image: PvmMNqN.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/PvmMNqN.jpg)
https://x.com/JimmySecUK/status/1929157790142242837
Tyler Rogoway via The War Zone publication:
Strategic ambiguity:
![[Image: 46xPPMv.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/46xPPMv.jpg)
NOTE: Russian military no longer treats Ukrainian soldiers as combatants. They are regarded as terrorists.
A reminder, given today's Ukrainian drone strikes, that it is becoming borderline-insane that we routinely allow ships *owned and operated by DoD-designated Chinese military companies* to sit in our ports with thousands of containers onboard and under their control.
UPDATE: Russian negotiators have just landed in Istanbul about an hour ago.
Shaping up to be a big KabOOming hot summer of fiery love bombs & sabotage.
Unleash the Medvedev Bear Cat.
The special operation "Spiderweb", as a result of which the SBU reportedly hit 41 Russian strategic bombers, was prepared for more than a year and a half. A strategic setback for Russia? A significant part — maybe even the majority of its airworthy strategic bomber fleet (part of the nuclear triad) appears to have been destroyed today involving FPV drones smuggled into Russia via trucks.
SBU claims that today’s strikes destroyed 34% of Russia’s strategic bombers that can carry cruise missiles. And they supposedly have peace talks in Istanbul tomorrow. LOL! If true I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that meeting!
Any op like this would require ISR only the United States could provide, and constant updates all the way up until the decision to launch the operation was made and then additional ISR from the US to assess the outcome. In other words, the US enabled this attack on Russia's strategic bombers while pretending to mediate amid its own proxy war on Russia. There is also evidence the drones used satellite communication to control them remotely, meaning US-based Starlink.
There are many ways to do this, the ground station might have been located where the drones launched, relaying control signals to the drones using traditional signals after receiving commands from the satellite signal.
A signal would go from an operator in Ukraine -> Starlink satellite -> Starlink ground station at launch site -> launch site signal relay -> drone.
Hence the latency that appears in some of the videos I've seen.
This is speculation at this point, it will take time for all details to emerge.
The threat of drones smuggled into Russia to threaten assets far from Ukraine has been a persistent threat for years regardless of the details of specific attacks.
There may also be AI involved, training involving US-provided satellite imagery could have allowed drones to approach the airport, identify aircraft and attack specific parts like the wings automatically. This would have the added benefit of circumventing electronic warfare employed against traditional drone signals.
![[Image: U0PaXhC.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/U0PaXhC.jpg)
Quote:Ukraine carried out a massive drone strike at airbases across Russia on Sunday, claiming to have destroyed dozens of aircraft. There are also indications that Russia’s Northern Fleet headquarters, home of Russian nuclear submarines, was attacked as well. Overall, the attack was clearly aimed at Russia’s most prized strategic aerial assets, which cannot be replaced quickly in any manner and doing so at all would be extremely expensive.
“The Security Service of Ukraine is conducting a large-scale special operation to destroy bomber aircraft in the rear of the Russian Federation,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff stated on Telegram. “SBU drones have hit more than 40 aircraft, including A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3, causing damage of over $2 billion.”
The operation, codenamed “Web,” targeted four key Russian airbases: Belaya, Diaghilevo, Olenya and Ivanovo, the Kyiv Post reported.
There was no immediate response from Russian officials.
While The War Zone cannot independently verify these claims, video has emerged showing Russian bombers being struck by drones. We have geolocated the video to show that the attack was on the Olenya base, even though it was widely reported as the Belaya Air Base in Irkutsk.
The Russian air base in Olenegorsk, Murmansk, was also attacked.
Explosions and flames were observed at Russia’s Northern Fleet headquarters in Murmansk. It is home to some of Russia’s most capable submarines, like the Yasen-M class nuclear-powered cruise missile carrying Kazan.
Russian officials denied that the Northern Fleet headquarters was attacked.
“The information about explosions in Severomorsk, which is being spread on social networks, does not correspond to reality,” the head of the city said, according to the Russian Operation Z Telegram channel. “The situation is currently stable. No threats have been recorded. Do not panic and trust only verified sources of information!”
As all of this was taking place, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said Russia conducted one of its biggest attacks of the war, launching 472 drones and seven ballistic and cruise missiles across the country. Ukraine says it “neutralised” 385 aerial targets.
Broader Context
As we noted in the opening of this story, the fact that Ukraine went after some of Russia’s most prized aerial capabilities, many of which are directly tied to its nuclear deterrent, greatly ups the ante. We don’t know how many strategic aircraft Russia lost today, but it could be a large portion of its long-range cruise missile carrier aircraft. While these aircraft have rained destruction on Ukraine from afar and are legitimate targets, they also underpin a leg of Russia’s nuclear deterrent. This will undoubtedly provoke a unique response from the Kremlin who has warned that widespread attacks against its strategic capabilities would be a red line.
Update: 11:50 AM Eastern –
The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) commented on the attacks.
“Today, the Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack using FPV drones against airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions,” the MoD stated on Telegram. “At military airfields in the Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions, all terrorist attacks were repelled. In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, as a result of the launch of FPV drones from the territory located in the immediate vicinity of airfields, several units of aircraft caught fire.”
The fires “have been extinguished,” the MoD added. “There are no casualties among military personnel or civilians. Some of the participants in the terrorist attacks have been detained.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “personally supervised the operation, and Vasyl Malyuk and the SBU team implemented the plan. 41 Russian strategic aviation aircraft were hit,” Ukrainian journalist Sergey Bratchuk wrote Telegram. “According to sources, this operation was extremely difficult from a logistical point of view. The SBU first transported FPV drones to Russia, and later – mobile wooden houses. Later, in the territory of the Russian Federation, the drones were hidden under the roofs of houses already placed on trucks. At the right moment, the roofs of the houses were remotely opened, and the drones flew to strike Russian bombers.”
Sources in the SBU “emphasize that the people who participated in this historic special operation have been in Ukraine for a long time,” Bratchuk added. “So, if the Putin regime demonstratively detains someone, it will be another staged operation.”
Irkutsk Oblast Governor Igor Kobzev confirmed that drones were launched from a truck.
“At the moment, it is known that this was a drone attack on a military unit in the village of Sredniy,” he stated on Telegram. “The source from which the drones were launched has already been blocked. It’s a truck. The main thing is not to panic. There is no threat to the lives and health of civilians.”
Meanwhile new video emerged of the attack on Olenya.
The large-scale attack comes ahead of a scheduled meeting in Istanbul that is part of ongoing peace talks.
“We are doing everything to protect our independence, our state, and our people,” Zelensky said on X. “I outlined the tasks for the near term and also defined our positions ahead of the meeting in Istanbul on Monday. First – a full and unconditional ceasefire. Second – the release of prisoners. Third – the return of abducted children. And in order to establish a reliable and lasting peace and ensure security, preparation of the meeting at the highest level. The key issues can only be resolved by the leaders. On Monday, our delegation will be led by Rustem Umerov.”
Update: 12:53 PM Eastern –
Ukraine informed the Trump administration about the attacks ahead of time, according to Axios.
The containers with the drones were assembled in Russia, according to Russian milblogger Sergey Kolyasnikov
“We found a warehouse where containers with drones were collected, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk tract 28A,” he wrote on Telegram. “It was rented for 350,000 rubles (about $4,500). That’s why the truck in the Amur region had Chelyabinsk license plates – they were leaving from there.”
The Russian Rybar Telegram channel lauded local residents who tried to stop the launch of the drones from trucks.
“In attacks like today’s, one can often observe the stupid behavior of the native civilian population, when in the fourth year of the SVO they race to film the landings and post them on the Internet, in fact helping the enemy,” Rybar wrote. “Fortunately, there are also examples of the opposite: a video has gone viral on the Internet showing how caring drivers in a parking lot in the Irkutsk region climbed onto a truck from which drones were taking off and tried to destroy them with stones and improvised means. People risked their lives: the drone’s warhead is not the smallest, and what would happen if it detonated is a rhetorical question. But the men still tried to save others, even though they were ordinary civilians.”
“We hope that their merits will be duly noted, fortunately there have already been precedents,” Rybar added. “However, the picture is clear: the failures of some lead to the fact that the last line of defense is ordinary men, forced to break drones with their bare hands.”
Update: 1:20 PM Eastern – [Zelensky going rogue?]
Axios is backtracking on its original story, now saying the attack was a surprise to the Trump administration.
“Ukraine did not notify the Trump administration of the attack in advance, a Ukrainian official said,” the outlet is now reporting. “A U.S. official also told reporters the Trump administration was not made aware of the attack.”
Earlier today, The War Zone reached out to the White House and we will add any pertinent details provided.
Full article: Russian Strategic Bombers Destroyed In Unprecedented Wide-Scale Drone Attack (Updated)
Telegram post by Ukraine Security Service (translated to English, obviously not entirely correct)
![[Image: dWKRth9.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/dWKRth9.jpg)
![[Image: oiWe2T3.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/oiWe2T3.jpg)
https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/192...7785465076
![[Image: JzylREN.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/JzylREN.jpg)
https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/1929134389495222726
![[Image: x8eDxeI.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/x8eDxeI.jpg)
https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/192...5257109586
![[Image: PvmMNqN.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/PvmMNqN.jpg)
https://x.com/JimmySecUK/status/1929157790142242837
Tyler Rogoway via The War Zone publication:
Quote:For over a decade I have outlined the exact scenario as we just saw in Russia. It could happen in the U.S. tomorrow. This was a pivotal event. U.S. military and political leadership cannot live in partial denial of this threat anymore. Our most prized aircraft are sitting ducks.
I have focused on this issue above all else in my career. I care deeply about it. The failure of the DoD to foresee what was totally foreseeable, with obsessions with yesterday's threats is such a failure. We need to educate our non military leaders on what this is, a huge issue as well (see New Jersey). So much work to be done. Hardened aircraft shelters is still be debated in the Pacific. We are really in a bad spot here.
The biggest challenge with this issue is education. Many just don't take the time to learn the ins and outs of the UAS threat, there are many layers and nuances, emerging technologies. There are high up people in the military that don't even really understand these basics. Then really terrible assumptions fill the gaps. Our pilots, our troops, our generals, our local officials, need a crash course on all this NOW.
We have produced hundreds of articles on this issue and those surrounding it. Many hundreds, but some critical reading that pulls from a lot of it:
Adversary Drones Are Spying On The U.S. And The Pentagon Acts Like They’re UFOs
Written in 2017 (date stamp is wrong):
America’s Startling Short Range Air Defense Gap And How To Close It Fast
CRITICAL piece from 6 years ago:
The Strike On Saudi Oil Facilities Was Unprecedented And It Underscores Far Greater Issues
This is where we are currently at in terms of homeland defense which is very alarming:
Lasers, Microwaves, Missiles, Guns Not On The Table For Domestic Drone Defense
We have broken every drone incursion over US bases story ever posted but one that I am aware of. For years we reported on this when nobody else would or believed it.
Mysterious Drones Swarmed Langley AFB For Weeks
And our most important naval assets as well:
Drone Swarms That Harassed Navy Ships Off California Demystified In New Documents
A couple bases that are high risk are trying to do what they can:
Protective Nets To Shield F-22s Eyed For Airbase Swarmed By Mystery Drones
Plans For New Hardened Aircraft Shelters Notably Absent From New USAF Base Modernization Strategy
Finally, the most important read of them all because the problem is about to get way, WAY worse:
Drone Warfare’s Terrifying AI-Enabled Next Step Is Imminent
Strategic ambiguity:
![[Image: 46xPPMv.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/46xPPMv.jpg)
NOTE: Russian military no longer treats Ukrainian soldiers as combatants. They are regarded as terrorists.
A reminder, given today's Ukrainian drone strikes, that it is becoming borderline-insane that we routinely allow ships *owned and operated by DoD-designated Chinese military companies* to sit in our ports with thousands of containers onboard and under their control.
UPDATE: Russian negotiators have just landed in Istanbul about an hour ago.
Shaping up to be a big KabOOming hot summer of fiery love bombs & sabotage.
Unleash the Medvedev Bear Cat.
![[Image: eltO10b.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/eltO10b.jpg)
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." – Thomas Sowell