Lawrence, Christopher A. Operation Spider’s Web

Ukraine’s Devastating Drone Attack on Russia’s Long-Range Aircraft

It was a quiet Sunday morning in RussiaJune 1, 2025. The war against Ukraine had already been dragging on for over three years. That morning, 117 Ukrainian drones lifted off from the beds of four trucks deep within the Russian hinterland, setting a course for their targets: several Russian airbases. The aircraft were "Osa" (Wasp) model quadcopters manufactured in Ukraine. They had been packed in cratesroughly 27 to a crateand transported across the country by truck. The unsuspecting Russian truck drivers believed they were delivering construction materials for prefabricated houses. But then, some were ordered to stop at a local gas station or parking area; suddenly, the covers of the cargo containers opened, and more than two dozen drones launched toward a nearby base. The Russian drivers were caught completely off guard. The drones proceeded to attack Russian bombers at four bases scattered across Russias vast territoryranging from a base north of the Arctic Circle near Murmansk and the heartland of European Russia to Central Siberia near Lake Baikal. The targets included large, older Russian strategic bombers such as the Tu-95 and Tu-22, as well as valuable Beriev A-50 early-warning and control aircraft. A total of around two dozen aircraft were attacked across three of the airfields; reports indicate that more than a dozen of them were destroyed. The attack left Russia in a state of shock, as it struck the strategic bomber fleet. These aircraft were not only regularly used to attack Ukrainian infrastructure and cities; as nuclear-capable strategic bombers, they also formed a vital component of Russias nuclear deterrent forces. In the wake of the shock, some Russians compared the event to a Russian "Pearl Harbor." This book recounts the full story of a covert attack that forever changed the rules of military warfare.