What they doin is blowing up Russian strategic fixed wing aircraft real good!
This will be in textbooks.
Ukraine secretly delivered FPV drones and wooden mobile cabins into Russia. The drones were hidden under the roofs of the cabins, which were later mounted on trucks.
1/— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) June 1, 2025 at 10:20 AM
At the signal, the roofs opened remotely. Dozens of drones launched directly from the trucks, striking strategic bomber aircraft.
And — Russia can’t produce these bombers anymore. The loss is massive.
Nothing like this has ever been done before.— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) June 1, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Flightline on Fire: Spectacular images of SBU special operation “Web” to destroy enemy bomber aircraft.The SBU says over 40 have been destroyed, including Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers and A-50 aircraft. The enemy’s losses already exceed $2 billion, the SBU says.
— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) June 1, 2025 at 7:35 AM
‘Russian bombers are burning en masse’ — Ukraine’s SBU drones hit ‘more than 40’ aircraft in mass attack, source claims #Ukraine
— AmplifyUkraine 🔱🇺🇦 (@amplifyukraine.eu) June 1, 2025 at 7:08 AM
From The Kyiv Independent:
An operation by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) using first-person-view (FPV) drones smuggled deep inside Russian and hidden inside trucks has hit 41 Russian heavy bombers at four airfields across the country, a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent on June 1.
The operation — codenamed “Spider web” and a year-and-a-half in the planning — appears to have dealt a major blow to the aircraft Moscow uses to launch long-range missile attacks on Ukraine’s cities.
“The SBU first transported FPV drones to Russia, and later, on the territory of the Russian Federation, the drones were hidden under the roofs of mobile wooden cabins, already placed on trucks,” the source said.
“At the right moment, the roofs of the cabins were opened remotely, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers.”
The source said one of the airfields hit was the Belaya air base in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast, more than 4,000 kilometers from Ukraine.
Olenya air base in Russia’s Murmansk Oblast, the Diaghilev airbase in Ryazan Oblast, Ivanovo airbase in Ivanovo Oblast were also targeted.
“Currently, more than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3,” the source added.
The SBU later reported that the drone operation caused approximately $7 billion in damages and disabled 34% of cruise missile carriers in key Russian airbases.
The agency said that more details will be revealed soon. Also, they vowed to continue to drive Russian forces out of Ukrainian territory.
“We will strike them (Russia) at sea, in the air, and on the ground. And if needed, we’ll get them from underground too,” the SBU said.
A video provided by the source shows what appears to be a row of heavy bomber aircraft on fire at one of the airbases.
The A-50 provides several critical functions for the ongoing war in Ukraine, such as detecting air defense systems, guided missiles, and coordinating targets for Russian fighter jets.
Russia possesses fewer than ten of these planes. A-50 aircraft have an estimated price tag of around $350 million.
The Tupolev Tu-95, the Tupolev Tu-22, as well as the Tupolev Tu-160, are all Russian heavy bombers regularly used to launch missiles at Ukrainian cities.
The Tu-95 is the oldest of the three aircraft, a Soviet-era plane that made its first flight in 1952. It was originally used to carry nuclear bombs but has since evolved to launch cruise missiles.
Each aircraft can carry 16 cruise missiles – either the Kh-55/Kh-555 or the newer Kh-101 and Kh-102 air-launched cruise missiles.
Much more at the link!
To bear in mind. FAS: “Russia operates two types of nuclear-capable heavy bombers: the Tu-160 (…“Blackjack”) and the Tu-95 MS (“Bear-H”). We estimate that there are roughly 67 bombers in the active inventory” tandfonline.com/doi/full/10…. FAS doesn’t give Tu-160 numbers, but fewer than 20, IIRC
— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) June 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
These strategic fixed wing aircraft are one of Russia’s key centers of gravity (COG). A center of gravity is defined as:
The source of power that provides moral or physical strength, freedom of action, or will to act. Also called COG.
COGs have the following characteristics:
- A source of leverage
- Allows or enhances freedom of movement
- Can endanger one’s own COGs
As The Kyiv Independent reported in the excerpt above, the Ukrainians have eliminated approximately 34% of these centers of gravity. It is likely that this percentage will be adjusted as the battle damage assessments (BDAs) are further refined as new and better data comes in. By removing these COGs, Ukraine has removed a significant Russian strategic capability. The manner in which they did it, by spending months quietly emplacing containers of drones in delivery trucks and vans, will force the Russians to inspect every similar vehicle, which will be a follow on effect of the operation. And the Russians have no way of knowing if there isn’t a second wave of these drone attacks all queued up and ready to go.
As someone who is Joint Targeting certified and, among my other areas of expertise, a strategic planner, this was an excellently planned and executed operation. The Ukrainians were thorough and patient. The weaponeering – matching the munition to the target – was innovative and, based on the results, very effective. As the full details of the planning for Operation Spider Web are disclosed it will become a case study at senior leader colleges (the war colleges) and the strategist schools.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
War for Ukraine Day 1,193: Centers of GravityPost + Comments (131)
