Military airfields in five Russian regions have come under drone attacks in the first such instance in the Ukraine conflict
Military airfields in five Russian regions, including in Siberia and the Far East, have been targeted in coordinated drone attacks orchestrated by Kiev, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. Ukrainian media has called it a major operation targeting Russian strategic aviation. According to Moscow, most of the strikes were repelled, with some resulting in material damage but no casualties.
Targets
The airfields are located in Murmansk Region in the north, Ivanovo and Ryazan regions in central Russia, Irkutsk Region in Siberia, and Amur Region in the Far East, the Russian Defense Ministry stated.
According to Ukrainian media, the airfields housed Russian Tu-95 and Tu-22M strategic bombers, as well as an A-50 early warning and control plane, among other aircraft. The Russian Defense Ministry has not confirmed this, and has not revealed the aircraft types stationed at the airfields.
It was the first time in over three years since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict that Kiev has targeted Russian facilities located in Siberia and the Far East.
Strikes
All the attacks employed first-person view (PFV) kamikaze drones, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that at least some of them were launched from areas located in close proximity to the airfields. It also accused the “Kiev regime” of conducting “terrorist attacks.”
According to Ukrainian and Russian media, the drones took off from trucks parked near the airfields and loaded with containers. Shot Telegram channel published a video purporting to show several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying out of one of the containers in Irkutsk Region. Plumes of smoke are seen at a distance behind the truck in the video.
Sounds of gunfire are also heard on the video, with a witness claiming that police officers attempted to shoot down a drone, using small arms.
Another video posted by Shot showed a crowd of people trying to hit the drones flying out of a truck with stones. The video was also recorded in Irkutsk Region, according to the channel.
Operation Spiderweb
The strikes were part of a major Ukrainian operation targeting “strategic aviation” and codenamed Spiderweb, several Ukrainian media outlets, including Channel 24 and RBK Ukraine, reported, citing sources in the nation’s domestic security service (SBU).
The SBU confirmed that it was behind the operation as it published a photo of its head, Vasily Malyuk, looking at maps of what appear to be five Russian airfields. The security service also claimed that around a third of Russian cruise missile carriers were hit in the attacks.
According to Ukrainian media, the nation’s security service prepared the operation for more than a year and a half as it gradually transported the drones and moveable containers to Russia. The operation was also said to have been personally overseen by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, who reportedly claimed that a total of 117 UAVs were used in the strikes, according to reports.
Aftermath
In Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions, the attacks were repelled and resulted in no damage or casualties, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. In Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, the strikes led to some aircraft catching fire, it added.
The fires were promptly extinguished, according to the Russian military. No casualties were reported in any of the incidents, and the Defense Ministry did not report the loss of any aircraft as a result of the attacks.
Ukrainian media claimed that around 40 aircraft were damaged in the operation, including several strategic bombers. The Russian authorities have not commented on the claims.
Investigation
Some suspects behind the attacks have been detained, the Russian Defense Ministry said, without revealing the number of those arrested or their identities.
According to Shot, the Russian investigative authorities identified the trucks involved in the attacks and are now working with their drivers. Several Telegram channels, including Shot and Baza, also reported that Russian OSINT investigators traced the drones back to a warehouse located in Chelyabinsk Region, Russia in the southern Urals.
Russian security service officers have reportedly raided the warehouse in question and are now investigating its owner. Some trucks involved in the attacks also allegedly were registered in Chelyabinsk Region, according to the Telegram channels.
Botched attack
One truck loaded with drones reportedly failed to reach its destination, the Russian Telegram channels reported. The vehicle caught fire while on the road in Amur Region and eventually exploded, the channels reported as they published a video purporting to show the moment of the explosion.
The incident took place a day before the attack, according to Baza. A container caught fire, triggering the explosion, the channel said. The driver of the truck died in the incident, Baza said. He stopped the vehicle when he realized it was on fire and went to check for the source, when it exploded, the channel reported, identifying him as Vasily P., 62.
Timing
The attacks came just a day before scheduled talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul. The two nations were scheduled to hold the second round of the recently resumed direct negotiations, which were stalled for three years after Kiev unilaterally walked away from the talks in spring 2022.
The two sides agreed to hold a major prisoner swap involving 1,000 POWs from each side during the first round of talks last month. On Monday, they are expected to exchange peace proposals as part of an agreement reached in May.
Ukraine has significantly escalated drone strikes into Russia in recent weeks, despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier described the attacks as an attempt to derail the peace process.
The strikes occurred less than a day after two bridges in Russia were destroyed in what the authorities described as sabotage. In Bryansk Region, an overpass fell onto a rail line, killing seven and injuring at least 69, according to the governor. Hours later, on Sunday, a railway bridge in Kursk Region gave way under a moving freight train, injuring the driver and two assistants.
The Russian Investigative Committee said both bridges were blown up, but did not name any suspects behind the attacks. Russian Senator Andrey Klishas blamed Kiev for both incidents.