Ukrainian forces conducted large-scale drone strikes on several air bases deep inside Russia, destroying multiple combat planes, Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said .
The operation, named ‘Spiderweb’, involved the most ambitious simultaneous strikes on Russian air bases since the war started in 2022.
According to an SBU source, over 40 aircraft were known to have been hit, including TU-95 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers and one of Russia’s few remaining A-50 surveillance planes, CNN reported.
According to the SBU, the operation caused an estimated damage of $7 billion and targeted 34 per cent of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers at its main air bases.
The airfields targeted included Belaya in Irkutsk, some 4,500 kilometres from Ukraine’s border with Russia, and the Dyagilevo base in Ryazan in western Russia, about 520 kilometres from Ukraine.
According to the source, the Olenya base near Murmansk in the Arctic Circle was also hit, and the Ivanovo air base was also struck, CNN reported.
Russian Defence Ministry on Sunday confirmed that five air bases were attacked by Ukrainian drones damaging an unspecified number of aircraft.
