June 4, 2025

Ukraine Shows It Can Still Flip the Script on How Wars Are Waged

The attack demonstrated Ukraine’s ability to use relatively cheap drones to take out expensive aircraft and to strike sites far from its borders.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Monday that Sunday’s drone strikes, known as Operation Spider Web, had “seriously weakened” Russia’s military operations.Credit...Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto, via Getty Images

By Helene CooperJulian E. BarnesEric SchmittLara Jakes and Adam Entous
June 2, 2025

In launching an audacious drone attack on airfields and warplanes deep inside Russia, Ukraine is continuing to change the way wars will be conducted in the 21st century, according to U.S. officials and military analysts.

American and European security officials said battle damage assessments were still coming in from the attacks, which took place Sunday, but they estimated that as many as 20 Russian strategic aircraft may have been destroyed or severely damaged, dealing a serious blow to Russian’s long-range strike capabilities.

Officials said Russia’s losses included six Tu-95 and four TU-22M long-range strategic bombers, as well as A-50 warplanes, which are used to detect air defenses and guided missiles.

The attack, known as Operation Spider’s Web, hurt Moscow’s prized strategic capabilities. But just as significantly, it demonstrated Ukraine’s ability to strike nearly anywhere in Russia, and to destroy warplanes costing $100 million or more with drones with price tags as low as $600, according to one U.S. defense official.
Russian Tu-95 long-range strategic bombers, shown during a military parade rehearsal in Moscow in 2018, were among the warplanes destroyed by Ukraine’s attack.Credit...Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press

U.S. officials said that Ukraine did not give the Trump administration advance notice that forces with Ukraine’s Security Service, or S.B.U., were planning the attack, which targeted several air bases inside Russia, including one in Siberia.

In carrying out the strikes, Ukraine deployed agents far from its borders. For instance, the distance from Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, to Belaya Air Base, one of the targets, is more than 3,000 miles. The drones were smuggled into Russia and packed inside wooden transport containers that had remote-controlled lids and then loaded onto trucks, the S.B.U. said in a statement.

One U.S. defense official compared the Ukrainian move to the Israeli operation last year that targeted the pagers of Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Monday that the drone strikes had “seriously weakened” Russia’s military operations.

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“‘Spiderweb’ showed what modern war really looks like and why it’s so important to stay ahead with technology,” he wrote on social media.