Operation Spider Web: How Ukraine struck Russian bomber bases using drones hidden in sheds, transported by trucks

In a spectacular claim, Ukraine said it damaged $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft parked at four airbases thousands of kilometres (miles) away

Ukrainian secret services were able to carry out a daring attack on strategic bomber aircraft at Russian air bases on Sunday by hiding explosive-laden drones inside the roofs of wooden sheds, according to a Ukrainian security official and images posted online, news agency Reuters reported.

An official said to Reuters that the sheds were loaded onto trucks that were driven to the perimeter of the air bases. The roof panels of the sheds were lifted off by a remotely activated mechanism, allowing the drones to fly out and begin their attack.

The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said strikes were conducted on Sunday on four air bases, and that a total of 41 Russian warplanes were hit. Reuters was not able to independently verify that assertion.

Footage shows a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber hit by a Ukrainian drone during the SBUs Spiderweb operation.
Strategic bombers are burning deep inside Russia. pic.twitter.com/bWhmRrbWsj Ivan Khomenko (@KhomenkoIv60065) June 1, 2025

Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Zelensky's chief of staff, appeared to reference the large-scale drone operation by posting a spider web emoji on both his Telegram channel and X. The post is seen as an allusion to the operation’s reported name, "Operation Spider’s Web."

A source in the Ukrainian security services said to AFP the drones were concealed in the ceilings of shipping containers which were opened up to release them for the assault. The long-planned operation came at a delicate moment three years into Russia's invasion.

Unverified video and pictures posted on Russian social media showed Russian strategic bombers on fire at the Belaya air base in the Irkutsk region of Siberia.
Igor Kobzev, the regional governor, said there had been a drone attack on a military unit near the village of Sredny, which is near the Belaya base, though he did not specify what the target was. He said the drones had been launched from a truck.

The Irkutsk region attack was the first time a drone assault had been mounted by Ukraine so far from the front lines, which are more than 4,300 km (2,670 miles) away.

During his nightly address to the nation from Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised todays large-scale drone attack against airbases inside Russia by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), dubbed Operation Spiderweb. With Zelensky stating that 117 drones were used pic.twitter.com/lY1qGo4DMqOSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 1, 2025

More than 40 aircraft had been hit at the Belaya base and a fire had broken out there, the source said, showing a video in which several aircraft could be seen in flames and black smoke rising.

AFP was not able to independently verify the claims or the video images.

The SBU claimed in a social media post to have hit Russian military planes worth a combined $7 billion in a "special operation".

Russia's defence ministry confirmed on Telegram that several of its military aircraft "caught fire", adding that there were no casualties and that several "participants" had been arrested.

Igor Kobzev, Governor of Russia's Irkutsk region, which hosts the targeted Belaya airbase, said it was "the first attack of this sort in Siberia".

He called on the population not to panic and posted an amateur video apparently showing a drone flying in the sky and a large cloud of grey smoke.

The governor of the Murmansk region where the Olenya base was located, Andrey Chibis, also said "enemy drones" were flying overhead, and anti-aircraft defences were operating.

Photographs shared with Reuters by the Ukrainian security official showed dozens of short-range quadrocopter drones piled up in an industrial facility. The official said these were the same devices used in the attack.

Other images shared by the official showed the wooden sheds with their metal roofing panels removed, and the drones sitting in the cavities between roof beams.

Separate video posted on Russian Telegram channels, which has not been verified by Reuters, appeared to show matching sheds on the back of a truck.

The roof panels can be seen lying on the ground next to the truck, and the video footage shows at least two drones rising out of the top of the sheds and flying off.

The Russian online media outlet that posted the video, Baza, said in a caption that it was filmed in the district near the Belaya air base.

The Irkutsk region air base hosts Tupolev Tu-22M supersonic long-range strategic bombers, a type of aircraft that has been used to launch missiles against targets in Ukraine.

The operation was code-named "Spider's Web", according to the Ukrainian security official, and was personally overseen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU domestic intelligence agency.

The source shared video footage shot from a drone, saying it showed one of the strikes. The images showed several large aircraft, some of which appeared to be Tu-95 strategic bombers, on fire.

*With Agency Inputs