Meet Ukraine's special ops unit wiping out Putin's war machine from bomber blitz to £3bn bridge… & what they'll hit next
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
DEEP behind enemy lines, Ukraine's special ops unit marked a turning point in modern warfare after drones blitzed Vladimir Putin's prized bombers beyond repair.
Ukraine's Security Service - the SBU - is wiping out the Russian tyrant's war machine with stunning success.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
14
Ukraine destroyed a third of Putin's strategic bomber fleet in Operation Spiderweb
14
Ukraine hit Belaya Air Base in Russia's Irkutsk region, deep in Siberia
14
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting with the head of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) Vasyl Malyuk in Kyiv
14
On Sunday, the SBU's Operation Spiderweb destroyed a third of Putin's nuclear bomber fleet.
It set a new high point for Ukraine's spies - showing incredible ingenuity, reach, and coordination inside a hostile country.
The SBU, led by Vasyl Malyuk, carried out the attack and has proved itself to be one of the best agencies in the world.
Over the three years of the war, the SBU has repeatedly assassinated commanders, bombed key sites, and attacked Putin's beloved bridge in Crimea.
Despite Russia being larger, stronger, and holding the cards at the start of the war - it is Ukraine who has carried out a string of daring sabotage attacks.
Experts told The Sun why they think Ukraine and the SBU has been able to pull off these attacks - and what they could strike next.
Best spies in Europe
Former MI6 intelligence officer Matthew Dunn said Spiderweb showed the SBU were the best spies in Europe.
He said: "Being an intelligence officer, there's no static, fixed rule book about what one does."
One question the world has been left asking is how Ukraine managed to get the drones inside Russia.
The bestselling spy novelist and podcast host at SafeHouse Productions said there is no clear answer.
Putin plotting 'final killer offensive' to WIN Ukraine war despite Russian losses nearing 1 MILLION
He said: "The commanders involved in this at high level, they would have been very open-minded about how to get these drones into the country."
Dunn said SBU spies could have smuggled drones over the border on foot, via parachute, or even a raft - whatever was the safest and easiest way.
He said: "The intelligence operation and the officers involved would have been as creative as possible.
"The issue is, the more people you involve... the higher the risk of compromise.
"Sometimes with these kind of things, risky and daring as they can be, sometimes simplicity is the answer."
Dunne thinks the stunning success of Spiderweb means the SBU will only continue being pragmatic and open-minded.
14
A Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) serviceman stands in front of the entrance of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery
14
Malyuk looking at photos of the airports targeted by Ukraine
Credit: AFP
14
Dunne said: "The [Spiderweb] punch to Russia is [the SBU] saying, 'we're not giving up, and this is our reach. This is what we can do'."
He said the SBU would choose their victims on a "case by case" basis as it continues to cripple the Russian war machine.
That's bad news for Putin - who will likely only going to see more goons assassinated, infrastructure attacked, and his beloved Crimea bridge bombed.
And foreign intelligence agencies will be watching and trying to figure out the SBU's methods.
Russians as spies
Dr Jade McGlynn said the SBU uses civilians to sabotage Russia in the exact same way Vlad does to the West.
The expert in Ukraine's resistance fighters at King's College London said she expected apathetic and bribed Russians to have played "at least some role" in Sunday's attack.
McGlynn believes Ukraine targeted Russians who didn't care for their country or the invasion and needed a bit of spare cash.
14
Artyom Timofeev has been accused by Russian bloggers of orchestrating Operation Spiderweb
Credit: East2West
14
It is not known exactly what relationship Artem has, if any, with the SBU
Credit: East2West
She said: "We keep on seeing this outsourcing, where they'll [Ukraine's spies] pay random people, maybe lure them in, they know they [Russian civilians] need a bit of money, and then they'll try and bomb a shopping center."
Russian bloggers accused Ukraine's spies of hiring Russian lorry drivers to get the shipping crates into position next to the air bases.
Lorry drivers reportedly said they received instructions from an "Artem" and had no idea what was in the containers they transported.
Ukraine later released footage of the containers starting their journeys - as drivers took the vehicles to their fateful destinations.
Eyes and ears
On the ground, Putin is also battling to stop partisans, groups of militants, inside Russia who oppose his rule.
He's fighting against both Ukrainians caught behind the front line and Russians who hate Putin.
McGlynn said it was hard to know exactly how big resistance groups are, how many of them there are, and what exactly they do given the secrecy involved.
But she warned that some are the "eyes and ears" of Ukrainian intelligence in Russia.
14
A member of the pro-Ukrainian Russian paramilitary group Freedom of Russia Legion
Credit: Reuters
14
Russian partisan group Atesh destroying a railway signal box
McGlynn said: "They're people who just go around and check coordinates, who send things through encrypted special bots.
"There's a base here is at this location, or we're seeing a lot of equipment going here, and then the Ukrainians can use that for drone attacks.
"That's similar to the way that the French resistance helped with knowing where the German defences were ahead of D-Day - that information targeting [role]."
Other groups, such as the Freedom of Russia Legion, are more militant and fight Russia directly.
This provides the SBU with agents on the ground inside Russia who can carry out attacks, recruit Russians to do their bidding, and provide key information.
Vlad's 'doomed bridge'
While Spiderweb was carried out with flying kamikaze drones, the SBU has also pioneered the use of sea drones.
They've rendered Vlad's Black Sea fleet useless after destroying 11 Russian ships - including the flagship Moskva - with the unmanned water vehicles.
Ukraine has also repeatedly bombed Putin's beloved £3b bridge crossing the Kerch Strait.
The tyrant built the span after he annexed Crimea in 2014 and it is key for linking the peninsular with Russia.
But to Ukraine it represents Putin's imperialism.
A sabotage attack in October 2022 saw Ukraine cause part of the span to collapse after spies placed a bomb on a truck.
14
Ukraine bombed Putin's beloved bridge in 2022
Credit: AP
14
A helicopter drops water to extinguish fuel tanks ablaze on the Kerch bridge following the blast
Credit: Reuters
14
Russia arrested five of its own citizens as well as three others and accused them of organising the attack.
But it's not just human intelligence the SBU deals with - they have attacked the bridge several other times with sea-based drones.
Known as Sea Baby drones, the water-based vehicles have caused havoc to Russia.
Two Sea Baby's packed with 850kg of explosives each tore apart a section of the stretch in 2023.
Why have Ukraine spies beat Russians?
Ambassador John Herbst - who was Washington DC's man in the country between 2003 and 2006 - said Ukraine's spies had been allowed to innovate.
In Russia, decision-making is centralised and bureaucratic but in Ukraine officers are given more freedom, he said.
Herbst said: "Ukrainian ingenuity has been a regular feature of this war, not to mention the fact that they not only surprised Putin, but they surprised the entire US.
"It's very clear that the Ukrainians are operating pretty easily and exceptionally, effectively across Russia."
But Herbst said as much as cultural differences mattered - so did similarities.
One factor benefiting Ukraine is how familiar they are with Russia - having been a member of the Soviet Union.
Their cultural links and shared history meant that Ukrainian spies know how to work inside Russia, deal with Russian civilians, and understand the army.
He said: "This is the flip side of something the entire world has been talking about since Ukraine emerged as an independent country, which is the fact that the Russians have had great success in planting agents in Ukrainian intelligence agencies and co-opting those agencies.
"Parts of the Ukrainian elite were junior partners [in the Soviet elite] which gave Ukrainian great insight, better insight than we have, into how the Soviet Union operated, and how Russia still operates."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Amazing new footage from Ukraine's daring Operation Spiderweb shows drone's whole flight across flaming Russian airbase before it smashes into one of Putin's nuclear bombers
The Ukrainian military has released new footage of its devastating drone attack that left dozens of Vladimir Putin 's irreplaceable nuclear bombers up in flames. Ukraine's most daring attack of the war to date, dubbed Operation Spiderweb, saw more than 100 first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drones smuggled into Russia in wooden containers disguised as modular homes. They were loaded onto civilian trucks and driven behind enemy lines by Russian lorry drivers seemingly unaware of what they were carrying. The vehicles were parked within range of five airfields stretching from northern Russia down to Siberia, at which point the hidden roofs of the wooden cabins were opened remotely and the FPV drones took to the skies. What happened next served as a devastating blow to Putin's forces, as 41 of his prized aircraft - worth some £1.5billion - were decimated in just a matter of minutes. Footage shared by the Ukrainian military earlier today shows the exact moment one kamikaze drone dramatically burst out of its wooden crate and sped across the Russian countryside towards an airbase. As it reaches it target, huge plumes of smoke can be seen rising from several nuclear bombers already alight, with one jet engulfed by a devastating fireball. Amid the destruction, the drone spots one jet still in tact, a TU-22 nuclear bomber, and immediately races towards it before inevitably self destructing. The devastating strikes took place on Sunday, with dramatic videos posted by pro-Kremlin military bloggers showing flames engulfing aircraft at multiple locations, including one deep inside Siberia. At least four more Russian strategic airbases were struck: Olenya in the Arctic region of Murmansk; Dyagilevo in western Russia; Ivanovo, northeast of Moscow; and Podmoskovye in Moscow. Sources inside Ukraine's SBU security service claimed the operation crippled 34 per cent of Russia's long-range strategic bombers often used to launch cruise missiles into Ukraine. In a statement, the SBU said at least 41 long-range bombers had been damaged or destroyed. These, they say, include the nuclear capable Tu-95 and Tu-22M as well as the surveillance A-50 'Mainstay' plane, worth an estimated £250,000,000 that is used as a radar and command centre, of which Russia is only believed to have around ten in operation. 'Mainstays' are critical to coordinating Russian fighter jets and air defences, meaning that this will have severely hampered Putin's war effort. Moscow has long stopped producing any of these aircraft meaning, if confirmed, these assets could not be replaced. There are only around 120 Tu-95s and Tu-22Ms in operation and they are vital for Putin's nightly bombing raids on Ukraine. They had been moved to bases thousands of miles away from Ukraine, out of reach of Western-donated Storm Shadows and ATACMS which have a range of up to 185 miles. As it reaches it target, huge plumes of smoke can be seen rising from several nuclear bombers already, with one jet engulfed by a devastating fireball In images released by the Ukrainian secret services, the wooden containers are seen packed with 117 FPV kamikaze drones – which allow pilots to control them remotely through a live feed. Dozens of black drones are lined side-by-side in the mobile wooden cabins. The roofs had hidden compartments into which the small flying weapons were stashed. With the help of front-positioned cameras, the missile-loaded drones headed straight for Russia's highly expensive bomber planes. Amid the drone blasts, one Russian man recalled to Mash Telegram channel throwing stones into the backs of the trucks in an attempt to stop the drones from taking off. Footage captured the moment dozens of other Russian locals launched rocks towards the trucks with some climbing on top of the vehicles to get a better shot. A video surfaced showing one of the trucks used to launch the Ukrainian (FPV) drones against Russian airbases, moments before it self-destructed. The footage captures a Russian man entering the cargo truck, unaware of the built-in self-destruction mechanism, which ignites seconds later, resulting in a massive explosion. The truck's self-destruct system activates to ensure that no evidence or technology can be recovered by Russian forces. This method prevents reverse engineering and eliminates any traceable Ukrainian assets left behind. The trucks are all linked to a mysterious man named Artem, 37, believed to be Ukrainian, and had reportedly been loaded in Chelyabinsk. All drivers reported receiving cryptic phone calls with instructions on exactly where to stop just hours before the drone launches. The trucks involved were seen in clips shared on social media with smoke billowing from the roofs as slabs of the wooden crates lay on the side of the road. In drone footage, several Russian planes were seen erupting in a blaze as they soared over the Russian aircrafts. As they continued their journey, the drones blasted the planes stationed ahead, sending them into a ball of fire. Separate images revealed the destruction as plumes of black clouds billowed into the sky behind buildings as the attack was carried out. Footage appeared to show black smoke at the scene on the Kola Peninsula following explosions at the secret base. According to Baza, Russian officials have launched a terrorism investigation and are now hunting Artem, who is believed to have fled. Putin has stayed out of sight since the attacks but an insider has warned: 'He will hit back at Ukraine, but also avenge his underlings who allowed this humiliation to happen'. Meanwhile, the SBU says all Ukrainian personnel involved in preparing and guiding the mission are already safely back in Ukraine, dismissing Moscow's response as a 'another staged performance for the domestic audience'. In a statement, President Zelensky hailed the 'perfectly prepared' operation, which he claimed was run out of a building located near an office of the Federal Security Service, Russia's principle security service. The sleeping FSB security service - headed by close ally Alexander Bortnikov, 73 - now faces blame over Ukraine using a warehouse next door to an intelligence HQ in Chelyabinsk to prepare the drone strikes on his airbases. Operation Spiderweb was 18 months in the making and under the control of Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the Ukrainian security service, the SBU. Zelensky also noted its symbolic timing as the operation came exactly 29 years after Ukraine handed over its own strategic bombers to Russia as part of the ill-fated Budapest Memorandum, under which Moscow promised never to attack its neighbour. 'We can say with confidence that this is an absolutely unique operation,' he said in statement on social media, revealing that 117 drones were used to target bombers 'used to fire at our cities.' 'What's most interesting, is that the 'office' of our operation on Russian territory was located directly next to FSB headquarters in one of their regions,' he added. 'In total, 117 drones were used in the operation, with a corresponding number of drone operators involved, and 34 per cent of the strategic cruise missile carriers stationed at air bases were hit. We will continue this work.' He assessed that the attack on Putin's irreplaceable bombers 'will undoubtedly be in [the] history books'. Military blogger Roman Alekhin said the incident will go down as 'Russia's Pearl Harbour' - a reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War. Pro-Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomb, believed to be run by Capt. Ilya Tumanov of the Russian Army, acknowledged that Sunday would 'later be called a black day for Russian long-range aviation,' adding: 'And the day is not over yet.' Former RAF pilot and military analyst Mikey Kay told the BBC: 'The Russians would never have expected something like this. I mean, it's genius, if you think about just the devastating effect that it's had on strategic assets of Putin.' Philip O'Brien, professor of strategic studies at St Andrews University, said the raid was 'the most remarkable and successful operation of the war.'
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
OAP dies and woman, 74, rushed to hospital after horror crash on Scots road
Police have urged anyone with dashcam footage of the area at the time of the crash to speak with officers FATAL SMASH OAP dies and woman, 74, rushed to hospital after horror crash on Scots road Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN OAP has tragically died, and a woman has been rushed to hospital after a horror crash on a road in a Scottish town. Emergency crews raced to the scene on Blaeberryhill Road at Glenmore in Whitburn, West Lothian, yesterday evening. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Police raced to Blaeberryhill Road at Glenmore in Whitburn Credit: GOOGLE MAPS The alarm was raised at around 5.55pm after police received reports of the fatal collision involving a Volvo XC90. Officers confirmed that a 71-year-old man, who was driving the car, was found injured. He was tragically pronounced dead at the scene. A 74-year-old woman, who was a passenger in the car, was rushed to hospital to be checked over. Her current condition is not yet known. No other vehicles were involved in the smash. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who died, and our enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing Sergeant Jamie Humpage Cops locked down the road for hours to allow collision investigators to conduct inquiries at the scene. Police have launched an investigation into the fatal crash and have said that inquiries are ongoing. Cops are appealing for anyone with information about the crash to come forward. Any motorists who were in the area and have dashcam footage have also been urged to speak with officers. Horse gallops down Scots high street and crashes into car Sergeant Jamie Humpage said: 'Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who died, and our enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing. 'I am appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash who hasn't already spoken to officers to please get in touch. 'I would also ask anyone who was in the area at the time and may have dash-cam footage which could assist to contact us.' Anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting reference 2852 of 6 June, 2025.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Ukraine's race to rebuild power plants under Russian bombardment
Valeria was about to take a bite of pizza when the Iskander landed nearby. The blast from the Russian missile shattered all the windows in the Mykolaiv CHP (combined heat and power) plant in southern Ukraine, igniting a gas fire and propelling shrapnel through the canteen. 'I had imagined what I might do when a missile or a Shahed [drone] comes, like if it really happens to me, and I had told myself I should be really calm at that moment,' says the 27-year-old. She and her twin sister Alyona led a hyperventilating colleague out of the plant's office to her car. The trio were still driving away when the second Iskander hit, devastating the plant's boiler-room. After that Oct 10 strike, the plant was targeted again, in January, February and May, each time with Shahed drones. On Thursday night, Russia renewed its campaign against Ukraine's national energy infrastructure, breaking a loosely followed ceasefire Vladimir Putin agreed with Donald Trump in a phone call on March 18. Power facilities were struck in the western city of Ternopil and targeted in other areas, days after Putin warned he would avenge Ukraine's elaborate 'Spiderweb' attack on Russia's bomber fleet. 'The scumbags haven't hit the energy sector en masse for five months,' wrote Myroshnykov, a Ukrainian military blogger. 'Ballistics on transformers – only the scumbags could do that.' On Friday night, Moscow struck the northeastern city of Kharkiv with what the mayor described as the 'most powerful attack' since the start of the war, involving more than 50 Iranian-made drones, one rocket and four guided bombs. At least three people were killed and 22 wounded in the devastating strikes. Harrowing scenes saw bloodied residents being carried out on stretchers from their homes by rescue workers wearing gas masks. Respite is direly needed. Ukraine faces shortfalls in both electricity and natural gas production after the wave of Russian attacks – and every hour without further explosions allows for the progress of repairs. Few appreciate the challenges like Dmytro Myroshnychenko, the chairman of Mykolaiv CHP plant. On a tour of the facility, he grimly points out the legacy of Russia's bombardment: the boiler-room is a tangle of charred iron and splintered rebar; shrapnel perforates an oil tank; flaps of corrugated roof panelling limp over the walls of the destroyed turbine control centre. In full health, the Mykolaiv CHP heats 160,000 homes and provides 26MW of electricity to the national grid. The latter was ended by a February drone strike. That the plant managed to deliver heat over winter is testament to the grit of its staff. After the first Iskander strike in October, Mr Myroschnychenko ran through the facility to check if anyone was injured. 'My first thought was, everyone is lying on the floor,' he says. Luckily, everyone survived. The next day, repairs began. Russia's attack hit two weeks before the start of Mykolaiv's heating season, when residents can turn on their radiators as temperatures sink below freezing. Staff were nervous coming to work but 'everyone understood the importance, as if we didn't rebuild the city would be left without heat'. Only interrupted by air raid alerts, workers frantically shifted pipelines from the two ruined boilers to a 1930s predecessor. When he pushed the button to turn on the heat again, Mr Myroschnychenko felt little relief. 'I knew more attacks would be coming,' he says, 'so we started preparing for them.' The £29.5million needed to build two new boilers is prohibitive; instead, the plant is focused on keeping its elderly system running. Four small metal air raid shelters have been placed on the plant floor, in addition to three underground bunkers. Gennady, a 47-year-old machinist, escaped the boiler room by touch in one strike, unable to see through the clouds of dust. Now, when sirens warn of an impending strike, he often has to climb up and down several ladders: unlike the destroyed computerised systems, the surviving parts have to be operated by hand. He jokes there is one advantage: 'It is difficult to break them so easily, as there are no electronics.' But they are harder to shut down in an emergency. One new metal air raid shelter stands a few feet from the boiler. As Gennady opens the door, a worker caught in a lunchtime nap guiltily slips out. The most serious challenge facing Ukraine ahead of the next heating season is a shortage of gas, with underground storage badly hit by the Russian strikes: Mykolaiv CHP lost large quantities when the Iskander destroyed a pipeline. 'We need to find $2.5 billion and purchase gas, putting aside the risk of further strikes. The task is quite clear, but extremely difficult,' Oleksandr Kharchenko, the director of Ukraine's energy research centre, told RBC-Ukraine, a local news outlet, this month. Last winter, Ukraine avoided a crisis. Record high temperatures and low industrial use spared residents from major power cuts. Experts are calling for small boilers, firewood and coal to be delivered to the worst-hit cities – Mykolaiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Kryvih Rih – before winter. Should there be long-lasting blackouts, further waves of refugees will head west. Others will freeze to death. In Mykolaiv CHP, the workers plough on with gallows humour. The plant knows war: it was destroyed by the Nazis when they were forced out of Mykolaiv by the Red Army in 1943. A portrait of Lenin has been left above the doorway in one workshop, with the name 'Morozov' scrawled underneath; a decades-old reference to a lookalike employee. The shipyard next door built Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetzov, before this invasion began. All the plant's staff are protected from conscription. But it needs another 40 people to get up to speed, admits Mr Myroshnychenko. At work, Valeria and her friends no longer eat pizza. The next time they sat down to one after the October strike, an air raid sounded immediately. 'It's become a joke,' she says – and another reason to loathe the Russians.
