Ukrainian drones strike airbases across Russia destroying dozens of warplanes| BBC News
It is one of the most daring and devastating Ukrainian attacks on Russian troops since the start of the war. Tonight, President Zalinski said his forces used 117 drones in strikes on Russian air bases from deep inside Russia itself, targeting war plananes, including strategic bombers. Now, the scale of the operation is remarkable with the strikes hitting at least four airfields from western Russia across to Moscow and reaching the country’s far east. thousands of miles from Ukraine. The operation cenamed Spider’s Web comes on the eve of planned peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey tomorrow. Paul Adams has our top story from Kief. Far from Ukraine’s borders, an attack of astonishing audacity. Russian strategic bombers picked off one by one by a fleet of drones. Ukraine calling this Operation Spid personally overseen by President Zalinski. One of Kiev’s boldest attacks so far, a reminder, despite Russia’s overwhelming strength in numbers, that Ukraine is a resourceful, determined enemy. Sources say this took a year and a half to prepare. Dozens of drones smuggled into Russia, stored on wooden pallets, loaded onto trucks, driven to distant air bases, and launched remotely. Swarms of drones picked up on social media from Siberia to the Arctic Circle. At a petrol station north of Ikutsk, a glimpse of the operation in progress. With smoke already rising behind, a drone emerges from the truck and heads off to join the attack. Moments later, another and gunfire as police officers try to bring it down. [Applause] [Music] Ukraine claims to have done a staggering $7 billion dollar worth of damage and knocked out a third of the planes Russia uses to deliver cruise missiles. We know exactly whom we are dealing with. We will defend ourselves by every means available to us, available to Ukraine, available to Ukrainians. Not for a single moment did we want this war. We offered the Russians a ceasefire. Earlier, a different kind of wreckage. This, the Ukrainian city of Zaparisia after the country suffered another major drone and missile attack. Elsewhere, 12 Ukrainian soldiers were killed at a training base. The head of Ukraine’s land forces tendering his resignation. What chance then for another round of peace talks set to take place in Istanbul. Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected to be there, but after 24 hours of mayhem, the omens for a breakthrough do not seem good. Paul Adams, BBC News. We’re going to get more from Paul in a moment, but as he was just saying, this sophisticated attack was more than a year in the planning. Ellie Price is with me now. What more do we know about operation spiders web and its targets, Ellie? Well, Clive, as Paul said, it was an attack astonishing in its audacity on multiple military sites across Russia. What we know is that the Elena air base near Mansk in the northeast of Russia near Finland was hit. There are also attacks to the southwest and northeast of Moscow. and far to the east all the way over here over 4,000 kilometers from the front line deep in Siberia where it was confirmed that this remote air base in Bellena was hit. And it’s here that this incredible footage was captured showing the destruction of planes on the tarmac. These are the drones that were used in the attack. Thought to be quadcopters with four rotors, relatively cheap and domestically made. The bombs they carried didn’t need to be big if they were targeted so precisely. Ukraine says 117 drones were used, each with its own pilot. Sources say the drones were hidden in custom-made wooden crates that were taken over the border and driven on trucks to near the targets and then launched remotely. There’s certainly been degree of mythology in Russia that the motherland is safe and no enemy will be able to harm it. Well, Keev has shown that that’s not true. They can reach anywhere. The fact that Ukraine was striking thousands of kilometers away from the front line means basically Russian military planners now their their mind has to just be paranoid from the outside. Ukraine says it’s destroyed 40 Russian bombers, more than a third of the Russian fleet capable of carrying cruise missiles. The aircraft damaged include the Tupalev TU95 strategic bomber that can launch up to eight missiles. The Tu22 longrange bomber was also targeted as well as the A50 seen as the eyes and ears in the sky, Russia’s early warning and control aircraft. Now, the White House tonight said they didn’t know about the attack beforehand. Operation Spiderweb was overseen by President Zalinski himself. He said Ukraine had an operation HQ inside Russian territory located right next to an office of Russia’s secret service now and and said that the coordinated attack was achieved solely by Ukraine Clive. All right, Ellie, thank you. Ellie Price there. Uh let’s rejoin Paul Adams who’s live in K for us now. Paul, this is a big deal. No question about it. And the timing um surely no coincidence given those peace talks uh that are due to take place in Turkey tomorrow. Yeah, Clive, look, it is pretty hard to exaggerate the the sheer audacity of what the Ukrainians have just done. You know, we’re used to stories of ingenuity and determination, the the sinking of the Mosur warship in 2022, the truckborne attack on the Kirch Bridge the same year, and just a month ago using missiles mounted on maritime drones to shoot down a Russian jet. These are all extraordinary feats of engineering and enterprise, but what we’ve seen today tops all of that and the Ukrainians are not surprisingly cocka hoop. But there is a political message here. A colleague of ours from the Ukrainian service said that he was recently in conversation with a member of the government who told him that the problem with Washington was that the Americans had already decided that Ukraine had lost and that the Trump administration’s entire strategy was based on that assumption. Well, as the negotiators head back to Istanbul for another round of negotiations over a ceasefire, what Ukraine is saying loudly and emphatically is, “If you think we’re done, think again. Donald Trump may famously think we do not have any cards to play, but look what happened today. We certainly do.” All right, Paul, thank you for that. Paul Adams, they’re live in Kiev.
In a spectacular military and propganda coup, Ukraine has carried out an audacious attack on Russia’s airforce, using drones to destroy as many as 40 warplanes at military bases across the country.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said 117 drones were used in the so-called “Spider’s Web” operation by the SBU security service. They were smuggled into Russia hidden in wooden mobile cabins, moved close to the airbases, then launched by remote control. Ukrainian sources told BBC News it had taken 18 months to plan and carry out the operation.
Russia confirmed the Ukrainian attacks, calling them a “terrorist act”. Ukraine claims it caused $7bn in damage and destroyed many of Russia’s strategic bomber aircraft.
Clive Myrie presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Paul Adams and Ellie Price. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog
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