Latest news with #A-50s
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
The Ukrainian Spy Agency Behind the Stunning Strike on Russia's Bomber Fleet
KYIV, Ukraine—With its devastating drone assault on Russia's strategic bomber fleet, Ukraine's SBU security service pulled off the kind of spectacular operation that has long fed the mystique of top spy agencies like Israel's Mossad. The SBU has transformed during the three-year war into the sharp tip of Ukraine's spear after decades of being maligned as corrupt, shot through with traitors and more focused on chasing political opponents than security threats. Under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Vasyl Maliuk, the agency has taken the fight to Russia with the killings of alleged traitors and Russian military officers as well as with the use of long-range explosive drones that have targeted Russian military-production plants and oil facilities. It has also revolutionized naval warfare by deploying naval drones that forced the Russian Black Sea Fleet to largely abandon its home port in occupied Crimea. Maliuk, a burly 42-year-old who worked his way up through the ranks of the SBU, has built a reputation as a hands-on leader with a tough streak. In February, Maliuk personally detained a senior officer of the agency who was allegedly spying for Russia. The SBU's drone attack on Sunday, dubbed Operation Spiderweb, was 18 months in the planning and damaged 41 Russian warplanes at four airfields deep inside Russia, according to the SBU. The agency released fresh drone footage on Wednesday, which showed dozens of drones targeting planes across four Russian airports. Drones landed on two A-50 planes, which provide early warning of potential threats as well as command and control of the battlefield. It isn't clear whether there was an explosion from each drone, as the detonation of the drones also cuts the video feed. The A-50s didn't have engines on them, calling into question whether the planes were operational, according to Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. One of the planes was no longer present in satellite imagery of the air base on Monday. The new video proves that the strike caused more damage than previously revealed through satellite images and videos posted online. It shows that dozens of warplanes were attacked, though it doesn't confirm damage to all of the 41 the SBU says were hit in the operation. 'Operation Spiderweb will go down as one of the most effective intelligence-driven special-operations missions in history,' said Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense. 'The clandestine development of a platform to conduct this, the operational security being able to be maintained to protect it and the skill and expertise necessary to execute were exceptional.' President Trump said Wednesday that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin for over an hour, including about the Ukrainian assault. 'President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,' Trump wrote on social media. SBU operatives smuggled Ukrainian drone parts into Russia and assembled them at a secret location before dispatching them toward air bases concealed in wooden containers on the back of trucks. A Ukrainian law-enforcement official said Kyiv tracked Russian plane movements ahead of the operation to increase the chance of success when they were dispersed across several airports. Satellite imagery shows the movement of Tupolev Tu-95 bombers, Soviet-era aircraft vital to Russia's long-range missile campaigns, in the days ahead of the attack. The operation took advantage of a moment when the targeted planes were evenly distributed across Russian air bases to 'maximize the effectiveness of their drones,' said Lair, who first identified the plane movements. On Sunday, as the trucks were close to four Russian airfields, the roofs were opened remotely and 117 drones flew out and zipped toward their targets. An SBU official said the drones were guided manually by pilots but, in a sign of how the agency is at the forefront of technological advances, artificial intelligence took over when some of the craft lost their signal, automatically piloting the drones to strike their targets along preplanned routes. Ukrainian officials quickly lavished praise on the SBU for the operation, stressing that it was planned and executed by Ukrainians using homegrown equipment. 'We are grateful to our partners, but this operation was conducted by the Ukrainian side alone,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Monday. In the days after the Russian invasion in February 2022, the SBU was in disarray. Several senior officers had allegedly betrayed their service by assisting the Russians. They were later detained. The SBU emerged from its Soviet predecessor, the KGB, after Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The KGB and its forerunners had relentlessly targeted Ukrainians who promoted independence. As Ukraine took an authoritarian turn in the late 1990s, the SBU pursued pro-democracy activists and political opponents and shook down businesses. After Russia invaded and seized Crimea and covertly sent paramilitaries into eastern Ukraine in 2014, dozens of SBU officers switched sides to Russia. After that invasion, Moscow continued to recruit moles inside the agency. In July 2022, Zelensky removed the then-chairman of the SBU, his childhood friend Ivan Bakanov, and replaced him with Maliuk, who had led operations to root out Russian agents. Under Maliuk's leadership, the SBU quickly became a feared and creative agency that targeted Russian military installations, equipment and military and pro-war figures in a series of brazen attacks. Maliuk is respected in the agency, in part because he wasn't a professional politician parachuted in by the country's president, as were several previous leaders. Before running the agency, he worked for years in regional SBU offices and fought against Russia after the 2014 invasion. 'He knows every fighter by name, he's always open for honest conversation,' said one SBU officer, who said Maliuk frequently travels to the front lines of the war. He has embraced new technology, particularly drones, and is adept at spotting Russian weak points and striking there with spectacular results, officers said. In an October 2022 attack planned and executed by the SBU, a truck loaded with explosives detonated on the Kerch Bridge linking mainland Russia to Crimea. The explosion ignited tanker wagons in a passing cargo train and damaged the bridge, a project feted by Putin and critical to his military's logistics. Explosive naval drones developed by a special unit of the SBU have struck at least 11 Russian ships, according to the agency's numbers, forcing Russia to withdraw much of its Black Sea Fleet from occupied Crimea. A naval drone was also used to strike the Kerch Bridge again in 2023, severely damaging a support pillar. The officer in charge of the SBU's sea drone program said Maliuk's trust and support during its infancy were critical to its success. Outmatched in labor and equipment by its giant invader, Ukraine has relied on the SBU to find ways to strike deep inside Russia using long-range drones and covert operations. The SBU has steadily increased the range of its explosive drones, which now regularly target Russian military and industrial facilities inside Russia. The security service has pulled off daring assassinations on Russian territory. It used an exploding scooter to kill a Russian general in Moscow and a bomb hidden inside a statuette to take out a Russian war blogger in St. Petersburg. The agency has also been active in Ukraine hunting down spies and saboteurs. As a result of the successes, the SBU's reputation has soared among the Ukrainian public. Trust in the agency stood at 73% last September, according to a survey by Kyiv-based pollster Rating, compared with 23% in 2021. Ukraine's postal service has released a special stamp to celebrate the SBU's operations. Write to James Marson at and Brenna T. Smith at Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Courier-Mail
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Courier-Mail
Satellite images show the extent of the damage after Ukraine's daring operation deep inside Russia
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News. Satellite images analysed by experts have confirmed Ukraine's claim that it destroyed crucial elements of Vladimir Putin's air power during its surprise operation deep inside Russia earlier this week. The raid, codenamed Operation Spider's Web, took 18 months to plan and execute. Ukraine smuggled drones across the Russian border, hidden in trucks, which then drove to the sites of military bases. One penetrated as far as Siberia, more than 4000 kilometres away from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. At a co-ordinated moment, the trucks released their drones, which then attacked while being controlled remotely. Ukraine pulled off the extraordinary operation with near-total secrecy, and all its operatives successfully made it back across the border. Even the United States, whose intelligence and military aid have been vital throughout the war, was not warned beforehand. 'Planning, organisation, every detail was perfectly executed. It can be said with confidence that this was an absolutely unique operation,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said when it was over. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Picture:In the immediate aftermath of the operation, Ukraine's security forces claimed to have taken out about a third of Russia's strategic bombers, partially crippling Putin's capacity to launch long-distance missile strikes. Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, head of the Security Service, put the tally at 41 aircraft, encompassing both Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers. It turns out that was not even the full extent of the damage. According to American military correspondent David Axe (fitting name, no?), the Ukrainian attacks on Russian bases appear to have diminished Russia's already dwindling supply of A-50s – an expensive type of surveillance aircraft, equipped with a powerful radar, whose chief purpose is to co-ordinate operations involving fighter jets and bombers. When Putin first invaded Ukraine, in February of 2022, he reportedly had nine active A-50s. By February of this year, that had fallen to seven, or perhaps even fewer, as Ukraine claimed to have destroyed at least two of them. One of the air bases targeted in Operation Spider's Web, in Ivanovo Oblast, is known to have housed A-50 aircraft, as captured by satellite imagery last month. Another photographic image, taken after the attack, showed at least one of the craft damaged. An overview of the Ivanovo air base, which was among those targeted by Ukraine. Picture: Maxar Technologies/AFP Two undamaged A-50 aircraft, captured in satellite images, before the Ukrainian attacks last month. Picture: Maxar Technologies/AFP The reconnaissance planes are hard to replace, and the cost – hundreds of millions of dollars – is not the only problem. After the aforementioned pair were lost earlier this year, Ukraine said Russia was trying to replace their capability with drones, as a sort of stopgap measure. 'It's certainly plausible that Russians are scrambling drones to plug some of the gaps,' drone expert Steve Wright told Newsweek at the time. 'But it's certainly not a one-for-one replacement.' 'That is hard to replicate with drones which, even if equipped with radar, lack the size and power to provide comparable radar coverage,' agreed Frederik Mertens, an analyst at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. Satellite images from commercial firms have granted a valuable window into Ukraine-Russia war since Putin's invasion began. That these latest images show smouldering wreckage deep within Russia, though, is a fact that demonstrates the astonishing success of Ukraine's operation. An image from AviVector, showing the damage at Olenya air base. Another example, from geospatial intelligence consultant Chris Biggers. Wreckage at Belaya air base. Picture: Maxar Technologies/AFP Defence analysis website The War Zone this week reiterated its previous assessment that 'Russia would not have to lose very many bombers, as well as A-50s, to' suffer a significant negative impact. 'Even taking one or two bombers out of operation will impact the Russian Aerospace Forces. The bomber triad has played a key role in launching the barrages of cruise missiles that have regularly struck targets across Ukraine,' the site noted. 'At the same time, these aircraft are an integral part of Russia's nuclear deterrent. This makes them a matter of great prestige, but also a critical element in Russia's ability to launch nuclear or conventional air strikes against targets outside of Ukraine. 'These aircraft are also regularly used for long-range patrols over Europe and Asia, also venturing as far as the coast of Alaska, and for irregular visits to strategic allies. 'Wiping out a significant portion of one prong of the nuclear triad – the most flexible part of it – has an impact on the credibility of Russia's overall deterrent.' Originally published as Satellite images show the extent of the damage after Ukraine's daring operation deep inside Russia
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine releases new footage of drone attack on Russian strategic bombers
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine released new footage on Wednesday of its major drone strike on four Russian military airbases, showing attack drones targeting numerous Russian strategic bombers and landing on two airborne early warning and control planes. Ukrainian authorities say Sunday's attack on the airfields using 117 drones hit 41 military aircraft. Reuters has not independently verified that number. Satellite imagery shows several bombers were destroyed and badly damaged at one base. New drone footage released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) showed drones landing on the dome antennae of two A-50 military spy planes, of which there are only a handful in Russia's fleet. There was no video showing the drones detonate. Reuters was able to independently verify the locations of all four air bases in the footage, including Ivanovo airbase where the A-50s were stationed. Reuters could not independently verify what date the footage was filmed. The SBU said in a statement that the aircraft struck included the A-50, the Tu-95 strategic bomber, the Tu-22M3 supersonic jet bomber, the Tu-160 strategic bomber, as well as the An-12 and Il-78 military cargo planes. Some of those military aircraft are part of Russia's airborne nuclear deterrent, but can also be armed with cruise missiles that Russia has used to pound targets in Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022. "A significant part of them is irretrievably destroyed, and some damaged aircraft will take many years to rebuild," the SBU said. The Russian Defence Ministry says Ukraine targeted airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions and were repelled in the last three locations. Several aircraft caught fire in Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, it said. Russian officials said on Wednesday that military options were "on the table" for its response to Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia and accused the West of being involved in them. The attack has bolstered Ukrainian morale after months of unrelenting Russian battlefield pressure and numerous powerful missile and drone strikes by Moscow's forces. While condemning other Ukrainian attacks at the weekend on Russian targets, President Vladimir Putin made no mention of the attacks on the airbases in his comments to senior Russian officials on Wednesday. However, influential Russian military bloggers have accused Russian authorities, especially the aerospace command, of negligence and complacency for allowing the nuclear-capable bombers to be targeted. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had decorated a number of SBU officers for Sunday's operation.
Straits Times
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Ukraine releases new footage of drone attack on Russian strategic bombers
A combination picture shows satellite images of the Belaya airfield, before and after the Ukrainian drones attack targeting Russian military airfields, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, in Irkutsk region, Russia, May 17, 2025 on the left, and June 2, 2025 on the right. 2025 Planet Labs PBC (left) & Capella Space/Handout via REUTERS Satellite image of the Belaya airfield, after a Ukrainian drone attack targeting Russian military airfields, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, in Irkutsk region, Russia, June 2, 2025. Capella Space/Handout via REUTERS A satellite image shows the Belaya airfield, before a Ukrainian drone attack targeting Russian military airfields, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, in Irkutsk region, Russia, May 17, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS KYIV - Ukraine released new footage on Wednesday of its major drone strike on four Russian military airbases, showing attack drones targeting numerous Russian strategic bombers and landing on two airborne early warning and control planes. Ukrainian authorities say Sunday's attack on the airfields using 117 drones hit 41 military aircraft. Reuters has not independently verified that number. Satellite imagery shows several bombers were destroyed and badly damaged at one base. New drone footage released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) showed drones landing on the dome antennae of two A-50 military spy planes, of which there are only a handful in Russia's fleet. There was no video showing the drones detonate. Reuters was able to independently verify the locations of all four air bases in the footage, including Ivanovo airbase where the A-50s were stationed. Reuters could not independently verify what date the footage was filmed. The SBU said in a statement that the aircraft struck included the A-50, the Tu-95 strategic bomber, the Tu-22M3 supersonic jet bomber, the Tu-160 strategic bomber, as well as the An-12 and Il-78 military cargo planes. Some of those military aircraft are part of Russia's airborne nuclear deterrent, but can also be armed with cruise missiles that Russia has used to pound targets in Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022. "A significant part of them is irretrievably destroyed, and some damaged aircraft will take many years to rebuild," the SBU said. The Russian Defence Ministry says Ukraine targeted airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions and were repelled in the last three locations. Several aircraft caught fire in Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, it said. Russian officials said on Wednesday that military options were "on the table" for its response to Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russia and accused the West of being involved in them. The attack has bolstered Ukrainian morale after months of unrelenting Russian battlefield pressure and numerous powerful missile and drone strikes by Moscow's forces. While condemning other Ukrainian attacks at the weekend on Russian targets, President Vladimir Putin made no mention of the attacks on the airbases in his comments to senior Russian officials on Wednesday. However, influential Russian military bloggers have accused Russian authorities, especially the aerospace command, of negligence and complacency for allowing the nuclear-capable bombers to be targeted. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had decorated a number of SBU officers for Sunday's operation. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Rare Russian spy planes damaged in Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb, Telegraph reports
At least two A-50 Russian surveillance aircraft were damaged in Ukraine's June 1 drone strike inside Russia, the Telegraph reported on June 3, citing footage viewed by the publication. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) executed Operation Spiderweb on June 1, targeting four key air bases and destroying around 40 heavy bombers by smuggling trucks of first-person-view (FPV) drones deep inside Russia. Footage shared with the Telegraph reportedly shows Ukrainian drones hitting two A-50s, rare Russian spy planes that Moscow relies on for several critical functions in its full-scale war against Ukraine. Drones struck the radar domes of two A-50 aircraft, according to the Telegraph. One plane appeared to be protected by sandbags along its wings, while the other had tires arranged across its airframe. Open source satellite images from May 2 appear show two A-50s stationed at the Ivanovo air base in Russia's Ivanovo Oblast, one of the airfields targeted in Operation Spiderweb. The footage shared with the Telegraph makes it clear that these are the same A-50s damaged in the June 1 attack. The video also reportedly shows several Tupolev bombers in flames after sustaining direct hits from Ukrainian drones. An SBU source told the Kyiv Independent on June 1 that A-50s were among the aircraft hit in the attack, but the claim could not be verified at the time. Russia's A-50s detect air defense systems, guide missiles, and coordinate targets for Russian fighter jets. The aircraft carry an estimated price tag of around $350 million. They are also extremely rare: Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), said in February 2024 that Moscow only had six A-50s in its arsenal. Ukraine previously shot down two A-50s in January and February 2024. Kyiv's audacious drone strike deep within Russia took 18 months of planning and dealt a major blow to Russia's fleet of bombers — only days after Moscow launched a series of record-breaking mass aerial attacks against Ukraine. The SBU reported that the operation caused approximately $7 billion in damages and disabled 34% of cruise missile carriers in key Russian airbases. Read also: Inside Russia, calls for peace come with conditions — and Kremlin talking points We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
