For the greatest drone attack in its history

A few hours ago an attack took place that will surely mark a turning point in the Ukraine War. kyiv launched the Greater offensive with drones From the beginning of the war, hitting Russian air bases simultaneously extended from the western border to Eastern Siberia. The operation, planned for more than a year and a half, points to an unprecedented economic and military impact for Moscow.

In the heart of Russia. Ukraine has confirmed officially the authorship of one of the most unexpected and strategically significant attacks of the conflict: the operation “Spiderweb”, executed by The Ukraine Safety Service (SBU), hit the heart of Russian strategic aviation by disabling or destroying at least 34% of its fleet of long -range bombers (there is talk of more than 40), According to Ukrainian figures.

The estimated economic damage, if so, would rise to 7,000 million dollarsalthough it has not yet been independently verified. This offensive, secretly planned during more than 18 months and personally directed by President Volodimir Zelenski together with the head of the SBU, Lieutenant General Vasyl Maliuk, represents a paradigm shift in the Ukrainian capacity of long -distance offensive projection, penetrating the interior of the Russian territory with camouflaged drones and operated from mobile platforms.

Five key bases and nuclear deterrence touched. The offensive, which as we said took place yesterday, June 1, concentrated on Five air bases Russians: Belaya, Diaghilevo, Olenya, Ivanovo and another without specifying in the regions of Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ryazán and Amur. In these facilities, strategic aircraft such as TU-95 and TU-22m3 bombersusually used to launch cruise missiles against Ukrainian cities, as well as a A-50 plane Early alert.

According to sbu sources, 41 airplanes were reached and at least one part was destroyed on land. The Images obtained They show fires on the track and mass explosions, and some sequences would include the voice of Maliuk himself qualifying the attack as a “Bavovna”, an ironic Ukrainian term to refer to explosions in territory occupied by Russia.

Unprecedented clandestinity. Attack logistics also demonstrates an unprecedented level of sophistication. Had the New York Times that had images that found that the fpv drones were introduced clandestinely in Russiahidden inside wood structures that simulated houses, mounted on trucks. These vehicles were placed near the air bases and, at a timely manner, the roofs were They opened remotely To release drones, which flew directly towards the objectives without alerting defensive systems.

The information It was confirmed Both the SBU and by Russian regional authorities, including the governor of Irkutsk, Igor Kobzev, who acknowledged that the drones were thrown from a truck In the town of Sredniymarking the first time Siberia suffers such an attack.

Russian reactions. The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that five aerodromes In different regions they were attacked, although he described the offensive as a “terrorist act” of the “Kyiv regime.” Russia said the attacks in Ivanovo, Ryazán and Amur They were repelledand that several aviation teams “caught” in Murmansk and Irkutsk after drone releases from the vicinity.

He also declared that the fires have already been extinguishedthat there were no victims and that some participants in the attacks have already been arrested, although these statements have not been verified by independent sources. While, Several Telegram channels Russians recognized that drones came from trucks parked on highways close to the objectives, which exposes significant structural vulnerability in the defense of Russia’s most sensitive assets. Plus: according to Russian and Ukrainian sourcesdrones left from trucks with Chelyabinsk license plates, after being armed in rented stores within the Russian territory, which again implies an unprecedented level of internal infiltration.

Ukraine also suffers. The same Sunday and almost in parallel, Russia launched a powerful missile attack Against a Ukrainian training base in the Dnipró region, causing at least 12 dead and more than 60 injured, on one of the few occasions in which the Ukrainian armed forces publicly recognize significant low.

As a consequence, the commander of the land forces, the general of division Mykhailo Drapatyi, He presented his resignationassuming “personal responsibility for tragedy”, reflecting a culture of control based on accountability. Although it is ensured that the majority of the staff were protected at the time of the attack, the event revives the debate on safety in military facilities to increasingly intensive and better coordinated Russian attacks.

War and diplomacy. The paradox of the war is that both offensives occurred on the eve of New peace negotiations In Istanbul, promoted by Moscow. Although Kyiv had conditioned his participation to receive a Russian memorandum with proposals of Alto El Fuego, Zelenski confirmed the shipment of a delegation headed by the Minister of Defense, Rustem Uumerov.

The Ukrainian president did not clarify if such a document had been received, just saying that they had Defined positions of Ukraine before the conversations. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials accuse the Kremlin of using negotiations as dilatory maneuverwhile looking for military advances in the field after more than three years of conflict.

The role of drones. The Spiderweb operation has once again evidenced the tactical value of Low cost drones such as the lack in strategic asset protection within the Russian military apparatus. The lack of reinforced hangars In air bases he left the bombers exposed to swarms of FPV drones (some possibly assisted by artificial intelligence and autonomous navigation based on image recognition), capable of operating without emitting electronic signals and without the need for human remote control.

This new generation of weapons not only reduces costs and increases the effective experienced similar incidents. The proliferation of this type of weapons has changed the rules of the global air defense game, accelerating the urgency of developing countermeasures adapted to high -precision asymmetric war scenarios.

A before and after. No doubt, beyond material destruction, “Spiderweb” operation It has a huge strategic and symbolic dimension, since it emails that Ukraine can penetrate deeply into the enemy territory with modest but tactically accurate technical means, challenging the idea that Russia can operate with impunity in its rear.

Not just that. The action also exposes the Russian capacity limits to protect their strategic assets, even those linked to their nuclear deterrence. The use of drones launched from mobile structures within Russia marks a bold advance in the modern war, where technology, camouflage, operational intelligence and tactical audacity can tip the balance.

For its part, the Sbu has declared that this operation is only the beginning of A new phaseone in which Moscow can no longer feel safe or in its bases farthest from the front.

We will have to see the Russian response in a war that has crossed an unpublished threshold.

Image | Ukraine’s Security Service

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