Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

How Ukraine pulled off an audacious attack deep inside Russia
Reuters ^ | June 4, 2024 16:00 BST | Mike Collett-White, Prasanta Kumar Dutta and Mariano Zafra

Posted on 06/04/2025 11:04:23 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Three days after Ukraine launched its most complex attack against Russia since the full-scale war began, details of how it was carried out and the damage it caused to Russia’s strategic bomber fleet are still emerging.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the operation, dubbed “Spider’s Web”, as “absolutely brilliant”, although the extent of Russian military losses remains unclear. On Wednesday, he said that of the 41 planes damaged, half cannot be repaired.

The attacks targeted at least four Russian military air bases, the furthest of which from Ukraine is the Belaya base in the Siberian region of Irkutsk, around 4,850 km (3,000 miles) from Kyiv.

According to Ukrainian authorities, the operation involved 117 drones that were smuggled into Russia: they were concealed beneath the retractable roofs of wooden sheds, transported to locations close to military bases and piloted remotely to hit strategic, nuclear-capable bombers. In some cases, artificial intelligence was used to guide the drones to their target.

Ukraine’s main offensive threat in the war so far has been its long-range drones, which have struck targets deep inside Russia, including oil refineries, military bases and arms depots.

Yet, despite some technological advances and increased production, the drones have a maximum range well short of 5,000 km and can be detected as they fly into Russian air space, meaning air defences down many of them. The June 1 operation, including the attack on the Belaya air base, relied on a different threat: relatively small “kamikaze” drones launched from locations just a few kilometres away.

The element of surprise was vital, denying Russia’s military the time to move mobile air defences into place or block the drones with electronic jamming...

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-47 next last
Ukraine "pulled it off."

Not CIA/MI6.

Riiight...

1 posted on 06/04/2025 11:04:23 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Z” thinks Russia wouldn’t dare retaliate....now that Ukraine has a pair of 4s....instead of a pair of 3s.


2 posted on 06/04/2025 11:06:09 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Any bets on a few Russian Generals falling out of windows shortly?


3 posted on 06/04/2025 11:07:44 AM PDT by BBQToadRibs2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Reuters warmongering.


4 posted on 06/04/2025 11:09:10 AM PDT by phil00071
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

“How Ukraine has lost half its country with no end in sight”


5 posted on 06/04/2025 11:10:07 AM PDT by circlecity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
President Zelenskiy said the Ukrainian agents worked across multiple Russian regions in an operation that was 18 months in the planning.

A Biden Operation

6 posted on 06/04/2025 11:10:56 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

They sure as hell didn’t do it on their own,.


7 posted on 06/04/2025 11:13:16 AM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BBQToadRibs2

8 posted on 06/04/2025 11:13:21 AM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: 1Old Pro
"A Biden OperationA Biden Operation"

Is this the "spring offensive" that was supposed to happen last year?

9 posted on 06/04/2025 11:17:02 AM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Sacajaweau

Lol Trump said Putin told him Russia is going to retaliate


10 posted on 06/04/2025 11:23:30 AM PDT by MrRelevant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

You really think the DEI infested CIA would be of help?

The Ukrainians are smart. The build amazing drones, including ones with fiber optic cables that string for miles and cannot be jammed.

The airbases are in google maps.

This just took ingenuity and giant balls.


11 posted on 06/04/2025 11:26:07 AM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: circlecity

“How Ukraine has lost half its country with no end in sight”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

One thing is undeniable:
The Ukrainian people are no one’s “surrender monkeys.” Far from it—they’ve shown the world what true courage and resilience look like.

Perhaps it’s their deep-rooted heritage—descendants of Vikings, Cossacks, and freedom fighters—that fuels their fierce defense of their homeland. Against overwhelming odds, they continue to stand strong, resisting not just Russian neo-imperialism, but also the brutal forces aligned with it: Chechen Islamist militias, North Korean communist support, and the strategic backing of the Islamist regime in Iran.

These are not isolated threats. Together, they represent a coalition of anti-Western, anti-democratic powers working to crush freedom and redraw borders by force.

Yet, Ukraine fights on.

In the face of tyranny, Ukraine has become the shield of Europe — a nation that refuses to kneel in front Islamo-Communism and Neo Sovietism.

PS
Ukraine has only lost about 18% of territory. It has stayed like that for 3 year now.


12 posted on 06/04/2025 11:29:35 AM PDT by USA-FRANCE (Silence against evil isn't neutrality, it's complicity. Oppose the Iran-Russia-North Korea Alliance!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: TheThirdRuffian
  1. How long would the war have lasted without the $350,000,000,000 Congress laundered through Ukraine?

  2. Who gains from the war? Not the dead Ukrainians.

13 posted on 06/04/2025 11:29:52 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats are the Party of anger, hate and violence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Pure propaganda from one of the globalists’ purist propaganda machines.


14 posted on 06/04/2025 11:32:17 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Look, over there, it’s Chewbacca!

(That’s a reference to the “Chewbacca defense” of distraction.)

Your post has nothing to do with what I posted.


15 posted on 06/04/2025 11:33:56 AM PDT by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
Not CIA/MI6.

Of course not.

And of course, without Trump and NATO knowing about it. ;)
16 posted on 06/04/2025 11:37:46 AM PDT by adorno ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

This attack will have the same impact on warfare that the battle of the ironclads had in the civil war, meaning it will change everything.


17 posted on 06/04/2025 11:38:34 AM PDT by Midwesterner53
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: circlecity
“How Ukraine has lost half its country with no end in sight”

Your math doesn't compute.

Since when is 20% the same as half?

And when was the war over for anybody to declare that Ukraine 'has lost' half the country?
18 posted on 06/04/2025 11:40:34 AM PDT by adorno ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

This operation was like something the Israelis would pull off.


19 posted on 06/04/2025 11:40:57 AM PDT by gitmo (If your theology doesn’t become your biography, what good is it?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Of course, it had to be the CIA or MI6, because the Ukrainians are a bunch of knuckle dragging Neanderthals; not as clever as their Russian cousins, right?


20 posted on 06/04/2025 11:41:28 AM PDT by Petrosius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-47 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson