Out of Nowhere: Ukraine Turns Russia’s Bombers’ Life into Hell!

The week began with a real nasty surprise for Russia’s long-range aviation: on the night of June 1, Ukrainian drones broke through and smashed up several of Russia’s strategic airfields. The damage is so bad that Kremlin Telegram channels can only whine and wish it was all just a bad dream. According to leaks from the SBU: more than 40 aircraft were banged up, including ancient Tu-95s, Tu-22M3s, and even an A-50 radar plane. Russian officials are silent about the losses, just like they are about their shady incomes — only the tears are painted on their faces.

Operation “Web” was no slapdash job: for a year and a half, drones and little hideouts were secretly stashed inside Russia, and then everything was launched from regular trucks so no one would catch on. The lids came off — and a swarm of drones flew toward the “Olenya,” “Belaya,” “Ivanovo,” and “Dyagilevo” airbases, where the planes were peacefully snoozing, chewing on their missiles for nightly raids on Ukraine. The air force’s reaction was like a guy finding someone else’s herring in his fridge in the morning: eyes wide as saucers.

Governors from Murmansk and Irkutsk were forced to admit the raids. For Siberia, this was the first time anything like this happened — local officials tensed up, switched on “readiness mode,” though for the planes it was about as effective as a moment of silence after a wild party. Meanwhile, bloggers are already screaming about a “Russian Pearl Harbor” and “black day for long-range aviation.” The strikes were so sudden that the “Pantsirs” and S-300s didn’t even know what to do, and the command might now be shopping for fishing line to catch FPV drones.

The SBU says: all their own have long since returned to base — just as the playbook says. The Russians are feverishly stopping suspicious trucks and telling the public that everything is under control. Ukrainian social networks are celebrating: fresh photos of burned-out bombers are a new trump card ahead of the meeting in Istanbul.

The takeaway? In war, it’s not the one with more Soviet scrap metal who wins, but the one who can think beyond the standard truck.