RUSSIA – A surprise large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russian airfields on Sunday claimed to have destroyed 40 strategic bombers, as per the Ukrainian media. The attack targeted 4 airfields: Olenya, Ivanovo, Dyagilevo, and Belaya.
According to Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform, the Security Service (SBU) conducted a “large-scale special operation,” code-named Spider Web, to destroy Russian bombers.
The report said SBU drones targeted planes used by Moscow in attacks on Ukrainian cities overnight.
More than 40 bombers are currently known to have been hit, the report claimed, adding that preparations for the “operation” took more than a year and a half.
The Belaya airbase is in Russia’s Siberian region of Irkutsk, whose administrative center is more than 4,300 kilometers (2,670 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.
The source went on to describe the “operation” as “extremely complex” from a logistical point of view, with the SBU first transporting the drones to Russia, after which they were hidden under the roof of mobile wooden houses, which were then remotely opened.
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev on Telegram confirmed strikes on his region, saying a military unit in the settlement of Sredny was attacked by drones.
“The source from which the drones were launched has already been blocked. It was a truck,” he added.
Murmansk Governor Andrey Chibis and Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov also reported drone attacks in their respective regions. The former, however, called information regarding explosions in the town of Severomorsk “fake.”
The town serves as the main naval base for Russia’s Northern Fleet.
The SBU has yet to make an official comment on the reports.