On 1 June 2025, trucks parked near Russian air bases thousands of kilometres from Ukraine suddenly opened their roofs. Out of wooden cabins on their flatbeds rose swarms of small quadcopter drones. Minutes later, Russian strategic bombers that had been sitting in the open, far beyond the reach of anything Ukraine was thought to have, were burning on their parking spots.

Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, called it Operation Spiderweb. It had taken 18 months to prepare. How much it actually destroyed is still debated, but it changed how every air force in the world thinks about parked aircraft. This week, as Ukrainian Neptune missiles hit six Su-34s at Borisoglebsk, it is worth looking back at the raid that set the template.

Trucks, Cabins and Quadcopters

The idea was simple and audacious. Instead of flying drones thousands of kilometres across Russia, Ukraine brought them close to the targets by road. The drones, small Ukrainian-made quadcopters, were hidden under the roofs of wooden cabins loaded on flatbed trucks. According to accounts gathered by Wikipedia, the drivers did not know what they were carrying. They were directed to stop near the bases, and the roofs were then opened remotely.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said 117 drones took part, each flown by its own operator. He also revealed one of the most remarkable details of the whole operation:

Satellite analyst Chris Biggers was among the first to start tasking commercial satellites over the bases that same day:

Five Bases, From the Arctic to Siberia

The targets stretched across Russia. Olenya lies on the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic. Belaya, in Irkutsk Oblast, is about 4,300 km from Ukraine. Dyagilevo is in Ryazan Oblast and Ivanovo Severny north-east of Moscow. A fifth attack, at Ukrainka in the Far East, failed when the truck caught fire.

The results were uneven. At Olenya, Tu-95 bombers and an An-12 were destroyed. At Belaya, Tu-22M3 bombers were hit, and the Kyiv Independent reported satellite images showing at least three Tu-95MS and one Tu-22M3 destroyed there. At Ivanovo, the radomes of A-50 airborne early warning aircraft were reportedly struck. At Dyagilevo, the bombers escaped and only grass was burned.

How Many Aircraft Were Really Destroyed?

This is where accounts diverge, and they still do. The SBU said 41 aircraft were hit, and Ukrainian officials put the damage at around $7 billion. Two US officials told Reuters a few days later that Ukraine had hit as many as 20 aircraft and destroyed around 10. TWZ estimated 10 to 11 Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers destroyed, and open-source analysts counting burned airframes on satellite images reached 12 to 13 destroyed, plus A-50s targeted.

Even the lower figures are significant. Russia’s Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers are no longer in production, so every one lost is effectively gone for good. The Russian Defence Ministry called the raid a “terrorist attack” and confirmed damage at Olenya and Belaya, while saying attacks in other regions had been repelled.

The Lesson: Nowhere Is Rear Area Any More

Spiderweb did not end the war, and analysts such as Ryan warned at the time that it would not be a turning point. What it did was destroy the idea that aircraft parked thousands of kilometres from the front are safe. Since then, many air forces have been looking again at hardened shelters, dispersal and base defence against small drones.

Ukraine has kept hitting Russian airfields, with drones and, increasingly, with missiles. The Neptune strike that wrecked parked Su-34s at Borisoglebsk this week is a different method, but the same logic: find the jets on the ground, where they cannot fight back.

The Wall Street Journal explains how Operation Spider’s Web was carried out.

Perun’s detailed analysis of the operation, the damage and its lessons.

Sources: Wikipedia (Operation Spiderweb); Kyiv Independent; Reuters (via Kyiv Independent); TWZ; Security Service of Ukraine; Chris Biggers