Czech foreign minister praises Ukraine's strikes on Russian strategic aviation

"After today's Ukrainian military attack on Russia, it is expected that Russian strategic aircraft will have 30% less chance of violating NATO airspace," he wrote on X on June 2.

The Ukrainian operation confirms that it is in Europe's security interest "to have a strong, resilient and well-armed Ukraine as an ally," the diplomat added.

Operation Spiderweb

On June 1, Ukraine’s SBU Security Service carried out a large-scale operation targeting Russia’s strategic aviation fleet. Initial reports indicated that more than 40 aircraft used in attacks on Ukrainian cities were hit, including A-50 early warning planes, as well as Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers.

The operation focused on five airbases deep inside Russian territory: Olenya in Murmansk Oblast, Belaya in Irkutsk Oblast, Dyagilevo in Ryazan Oblast, Ivanovo in Ivanovo Oblast, and Ukrainka in Amur Oblast — with the latter strike reportedly failing. The strike on Belaya marked Ukraine’s first known attack on a military site in Siberia since the start of the full-scale war.

The aircraft were struck by drones launched from trucks parked near the airfields. According to NV sources in Ukraine’s security services, the operation was personally overseen by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and executed by Vasyl Maliuk and a team from the SBU.

The operation was described as extraordinarily complex and took more than a year and a half to prepare. The SBU first smuggled FPV drones into Russia, followed by small mobile wooden houses. The drones were hidden under the roofs of the houses, which were transported by truck. When the time came, the roofs were remotely opened and the drones launched toward their targets. Zelenskyy later said that 117 drones were used in the strike.

According to the SBU, Operation Spiderweb inflicted an estimated $7 billion in damage to Russia’s strategic aviation.

The agency said the attack hit 34% of Russia’s cruise missile carrier fleet based at its primary airbases.

As of June 2, the first satellite imagery from Belaya airbase confirmed that at least eight aircraft were either destroyed or damaged there: four Tu-95MS and four Tu-22M3 bombers. Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on June 2 that a total of at least 13 aircraft were destroyed during Operation Cobweb, with more reportedly damaged.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attack and said that the targets were airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur oblasts.