The counterassault was the most sophisticated Ukraine has launched so far. Dubbed “Spiderweb,” the operation saw dozens of Russian bombers parked at separate air bases, thousands of miles away from the front lines, struck at all once.
The drones hit targets spread across Russia, including one base closer to Japan and another inside the Arctic Circle, Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed, quickly posting dramatic video footage of the assault on social media. To pull off the operation — which was 18 months in the planning — the drones were smuggled into Russia hidden in wooden mobile houses atop trucks, and the roofs were opened remotely to launch the strikes.
The SBU estimates the assault caused around $7 billion in damage and may have reduced Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers by a third. Ukrainian commanders must have especially relished hitting the bombers that have been firing missiles at Ukraine. “How beautiful Belaya airfield looks now,” General Vasyl Malyuk, head of the SBU, can be heard saying on one of the videos.
“The planning, organization, and all the details were perfectly prepared. It can be confidently said that this was an absolutely unique operation,” bragged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He then added salt to Russia’s wound, boasting that “the ‘office’ of our operation on Russian territory was located directly next to FSB headquarters in one of their regions.”
Sad to say, but while the strike does complicate where Russia should base its strategic bombers and how to protect them, the military trend is still in the Kremlin’s favor, with or without harsher economic sanctions. And as Russia ramps up its production of drones and ballistic missiles, the air war is getting increasingly difficult for Ukraine.
Currently, the country is believed to have eight Patriot missile batteries, yet only half a dozen are thought to be functioning at any one time because of repairs and maintenance schedules. The Patriots are about the only weapon Ukraine has to intercept Russian ballistic missiles, but it often takes a pair of Patriot interceptors to knock out an incoming missile.
