Latest news with #militarystrategy
Japan Times
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
'Aces up the sleeve': Ukraine drone attacks in Russia shake up conflict
Ukraine managed to not only humiliate the Kremlin by boasting of taking out more than a third of all Russian missile carriers in a spectacular drone attack but also to rewrite the rules of modern warfare, analysts say. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Kyiv used inexpensive drones at the weekend to destroy Russian nuclear-capable bombers worth billions of dollars in an operation carried out after months of planning. "Spider's Web" dealt a blow to Russia more than three years after its invasion of Ukraine, and the operation will now be studied closely by militaries around the world as a new strategy in asymmetric warfare. Ukraine said it destroyed $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft parked at airbases thousands of kilometers across the border, mainly Tu-95 and Tu-22 long-range strategic bombers. While the attacks at Belaya deep in Siberia and Olenya on the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic circle are unlikely to change to course of the war, they will limit Moscow's ability to launch long-range missile strikes against Ukraine. Yohann Michel, a researcher at the French university Lyon-3, said the loss of the aircraft was "a serious blow to Russian offensive capabilities." "The main impact could be felt in several weeks' time with a reduction in the number of sorties by the rest of the fleet" due to difficulties in finding spare parts for the Soviet-era planes, which are no longer in production, he said. Maxim Starchak, a fellow at the Center for International and Defense Policy at Queen's University in Canada, said it would take Russia a long time to replace the lost aircraft. "Russia is extremely slow and inefficient in developing new aircraft for its nuclear forces," he said. New way of waging war The drones, launched from trucks in the immediate vicinity of air bases deep inside Russia, destroyed or damaged aircraft parked in the open. Congratulating Ukraine's security service chief Vasyl Malyuk, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it had taken 18 months of preparation for the 117 drones to be concealed inside trucks close to the airbases, and that all the Ukrainian agents had safely left Russia. A satellite image shows pre-strike and post-strike images of the Ivanovo Airbase east of Moscow. | 2025 PLANET LABS PBC / via AFP-Jiji Michael Shurkin, a former CIA officer, said Ukraine's operation was likely to have struck fear into militaries across the world, adding that potential targets for such drone attacks could include refineries, ballistic missile silos or military bases. "This technology is akin to stealth technology: The threat is difficult to detect both because it emerges near the target and is too small and too low to be picked up by sensors designed to catch aircraft or missiles," said Shurkin, director of global programs for the consultancy 14 North Strategies. Ukrainian military analyst Oleksii Kopytko said anyone delivering a pizza or driving a horse-drawn cart could present a danger. "The organizers and main perpetrators are essentially untraceable," he said. A French arms manufacturing executive said Ukraine could even have trained AI algorithms to recognize aircraft or guide the drones in case of jamming. "New tools are forcing us to completely rethink defense systems and how they are produced," said the executive, who asked not to be named. "It opens up possibilities that we hadn't even imagined." Zelenskyy "just proved that he and Ukraine are more than able to pull aces out of their combat fatigue sleeves," said Timothy Ash, an emerging market economist focused on Russia. 'Did not help' The attacks exposed Russia's air base vulnerabilities, in a massive morale boost for Kyiv after months on the backfoot in the conflict. "The protection of military air bases does not meet security requirements," said Starchak. "The dispersal of military aircraft across different airfields did not help either." Russia's vast size is also a disadvantage here. "Usually, the vastness of Russia's territory is an advantage; you can hide your bombers thousands of kilometers away where they would be safe," said Michel. "The problem is that this means you have to monitor thousands of square kilometers, which is simply impossible." The attacks dealt a blow to Moscow's nuclear triad of ground, sea and air-launched missiles, said Starchak. If it was possible to target an airbase it is also possible to hit bases hosting nuclear submarines, Starchak said. "An attack on long-range aircraft bases is a potential threat to the entire nuclear triad, which can be easily hit, thereby weakening it to the point that it cannot respond with a nuclear strike." John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, said that Ukraine's operation gave U.S. President Donald Trump leverage against Russia's Vladimir Putin in search of a settlement. "It is a strong counter to the dubious 'common wisdom' that the war is moving inevitably in Moscow's favor," wrote the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Washington Post
a day ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
A surprise drone attack on airfields across Russia encapsulates Ukraine's wartime strategy
KYIV, Ukraine — The covert operation was described as one for the 'history books' by Ukraine's president. In the span of a few hours on Sunday, nearly a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet was destroyed or damaged with cheaply made drones sneaked into Russian territory, according to Ukrainian officials. The undertaking by Ukraine's Security Service, codenamed 'Spiderweb,' involved more than 18 months of painstaking planning and great risk. It was personally overseen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It came to fruition at a time in the 3-year-old war when peace talks have failed to deliver the unconditional ceasefire long-sought by Kyiv, and as Moscow continues to launch record-breaking numbers of drone and missile barrages. The attack on Sunday encapsulates Ukraine's wartime strategy: Outnumbered, outgunned and dependent on Western partners, Ukrainian military planners have sought innovative and cost-effective means to exact Russian losses, often leaning on the element of surprise. Here's what we know about the Ukrainian attack so far: Zelenskyy said 117 drones were used in the operation in which four military airfields were attacked resulting in the severe damage or destruction of 34% of Russia's fleet of air missile carriers. The complex operation was directed from an office that was next door to an office of the Russian security service, the FSB, Zelenskyy said, without elaborating on where in Russia it was. Executing it involved smuggling in first-person view, or FPV, drones to Russia, where they were placed in wooden containers, which were eventually taken by truck close to the airfields. From there, the drones flew to strike Russia's strategic bombers. Social media footage shared by Russian media on the day of the attack showed drones rising from inside the containers. By the end, over 40 Russian warplanes were severely damaged or destroyed with costs estimated to be around $7 billion, according to Ukraine's security service. Among the most striking targets was Belaya air base in the Siberian region of Irkutsk — over 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) away from Ukraine. Russia's Defense Ministry in a statement confirmed the attacks, saying they damaged aircraft and sparked fires on air bases in the Irkutsk region, as well as the Murmansk region in the north. It said strikes were also repelled in the Amur region in Russia's Far East and in the western regions of Ivanovo and Ryazan, the ministry said. There was no way to independently verify the claims from either side. Strategic aircraft, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22M, were destroyed in the attack, according to the SBU. Moscow has previously used Tu-95 and Tu-22M long-range bombers to launch missiles at Ukraine, while A-50s are used to coordinate targets and detect air defenses and guided missiles. Ukraine has long hoped to degrade Russia's ability to deploy bombers that launch deadly missile barrages against Ukrainian cities, against which Kyiv has limited means to respond. The loss of the planes could reduce Russia's ability to deliver devastating missile barrages against Ukraine. The attack comes right as Moscow has unleashed a record-breaking number of drones and missiles against Ukraine to degrade domestic weapons production capabilities, shatter morale and consume Kyiv's limited quantities of air defense missiles. Often these attacks have also struck civilians. The attack also gives Ukraine a morale boost at a time when peace talks have sputtered and could undermine Russian confidence that it can win the war with ease. It was launched a day before a round of direct peace talks took place in Istanbul on Monday. It also occurred on the same day as Russia launched a record number of 472 drones against Ukraine in yet another barrage. 'The enemy thought it could bomb Ukraine and kill Ukrainians with impunity and without end. But that is not the case. We will respond to Russian terror and destroy the enemy everywhere — at sea, in the air, and on land,' said the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, on Monday. 'And if necessary, we'll get them from underground too,' he added. Despite suffering setbacks and shortcomings on the battlefield, throughout the war Kyiv has sought to focus on Russia's rear to cripple and neutralize combat capabilities. Sunday's operation is perhaps the most brazen in a series mounted by Ukraine. In April 2022, Ukraine sank the Moskva , the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, after striking it with two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. The sinking marked a major Ukrainian victory in the war. In October 2022, a Ukrainian attack damaged the Kerch Bridge , which links Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea. The bridge, which holds important strategic and symbolic value, was hit again in July 2023. A year later, in August 2024, Ukrainian forces launched a daring military incursion into Russia's Kursk region, the first time Russian territory was occupied by an invader since World War II. It dealt a humiliating blow to the Kremlin. Russia claimed in April 2025 that it had fully reclaimed the border territory, though Ukraine insists it still has troops present there.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Surprise drone attack on Russian airfields encapsulates Ukraine's wartime strategy
The covert operation was described as one for the 'history books' by Ukraine's President. In the span of a few hours on Sunday, nearly a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet was destroyed or damaged with cheaply made drones sneaked into Russian territory, according to Ukrainian officials. The undertaking by Ukraine's Security Service, codenamed 'Spiderweb,' involved more than 18 months of painstaking planning and great risk. It was personally overseen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It came to fruition at a time in the three-year-old war when peace talks have failed to deliver the unconditional ceasefire long-sought by Kyiv, and as Moscow continues to launch record-breaking numbers of drone and missile barrages. The attack on Sunday encapsulates Ukraine's wartime strategy: Outnumbered, outgunned and dependent on Western partners, Ukrainian military planners have sought innovative and cost-effective means to exact Russian losses, often leaning on the element of surprise. Here's what we know about the Ukrainian attack so far: Zelensky said 117 drones were used in the operation in which four military airfields were attacked resulting in the severe damage or destruction of 34 per cent of Russia's fleet of air missile carriers. The complex operation was directed from an office that was next door to an office of the Russian security service, the FSB, Zelensky said, without elaborating on where in Russia it was. Executing it involved smuggling in first-person view, or FPV, drones to Russia, where they were placed in wooden containers, which were eventually taken by truck close to the airfields. From there, the drones flew to strike Russia's strategic bombers. Social-media footage shared by Russian media on the day of the attack showed drones rising from inside the containers. By the end, more than 40 Russian warplanes were severely damaged or destroyed with costs estimated to be around US$7-billion, according to Ukraine's security service. Among the most striking targets was Belaya air base in the Siberian region of Irkutsk – more than 4,000 kilometres away from Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry in a statement confirmed the attacks, saying they damaged aircraft and sparked fires on air bases in the Irkutsk region, as well as the Murmansk region in the north. It said strikes were also repelled in the Amur region in Russia's Far East and in the western regions of Ivanovo and Ryazan. There was no way to independently verify the claims from either side. Strategic aircraft, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22M, were destroyed in the attack, according to the SBU. Moscow has previously used Tu-95 and Tu-22M long-range bombers to launch missiles at Ukraine, while A-50s are used to co-ordinate targets and detect air defences and guided missiles. Ukraine has long hoped to degrade Russia's ability to deploy bombers that launch deadly missile barrages against Ukrainian cities, against which Kyiv has limited means to respond. The loss of the planes could reduce Russia's ability to deliver devastating missile barrages against Ukraine. The attack comes right as Moscow has unleashed a record-breaking number of drones and missiles against Ukraine to degrade domestic weapons production capabilities, shatter morale and consume Kyiv's limited quantities of air defence missiles. Often these attacks have also struck civilians. The attack also gives Ukraine a morale boost at a time when peace talks have sputtered and could undermine Russian confidence that it can win the war with ease. It was launched a day before a round of direct peace talks took place in Istanbul on Monday. It also occurred on the same day as Russia launched a record number of 472 drones against Ukraine in yet another barrage. 'The enemy thought it could bomb Ukraine and kill Ukrainians with impunity and without end. But that is not the case. We will respond to Russian terror and destroy the enemy everywhere – at sea, in the air, and on land,' said the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, on Monday. 'And if necessary, we'll get them from underground, too,' he added. Satellite data shed light on Russia's modern-day gulags for Ukrainian children Despite suffering setbacks and shortcomings on the battlefield, throughout the war Kyiv has sought to focus on Russia's rear to cripple and neutralize combat capabilities. Sunday's operation is perhaps the most brazen in a series mounted by Ukraine. In April, 2022, Ukraine sank the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, after striking it with two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. The sinking marked a major Ukrainian victory in the war. In October, 2022, a Ukrainian attack damaged the Kerch Bridge, which links Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea. The bridge, which holds important strategic and symbolic value, was hit again in July, 2023. A year later, in August, 2024, Ukrainian forces launched a daring military incursion into Russia's Kursk region, the first time Russian territory was occupied by an invader since the Second World War. It dealt a humiliating blow to the Kremlin. Russia claimed in April, 2025, that it had fully reclaimed the border territory, though Ukraine insists it still has troops present there.
CNN
a day ago
- Business
- CNN
Analysis: Ukraine's wily drone strikes expose Russia's vulnerability and could shift war's narrative
After too many nights of pulling children from the rubble of Russian drone strikes, the weekend's devastating attacks on Moscow's military pride mark a moment of brief respite for Ukrainian morale, and yet another twist of the unexpected in the Kremlin's war of choice. It may be hard to fathom the precise impact of Ukraine's wily drone assault on Russian air bases thousands of miles beyond the Ukrainian border. Kyiv said 41 long-range bomber jets were set aflame and that the attacks hit 34% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers at its main bases. We don't know how many bombers Russia had that were fully functional – after years of taxing nightly missions over Ukraine – and how many others had been cannibalized for spare parts, but some reports suggest Russia only had about 20 of the propeller-driven Tu-95s and about 60 supersonic Tu-22M3s in service. It will become clear in the months ahead to what extent this really dents the terror the air raid sirens bring across Ukraine. But if what Kyiv says is true – 117 relatively cheap drones taking out dozens of planes and causing what one security source estimated to be $7 billion in damage – then the economics of the war have shifted. And it marks another point in which guile triumphs over the giant. Russia's main card is its vastness – of military resources, frontline manpower, tolerance for pain and financial reserves. But repeatedly, Kyiv has shown targeted pin pricks can burst these bubbles. In late 2022, the Ukrainians struck supply lines across occupied northern parts of Ukraine, causing a swift and embarrassing collapse of Russian positions. In 2023, they hit the Kerch Strait bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea. And last year they invaded Kursk, Russia proper, exposing the vulnerability of the Russian war machine's borders. On each occasion, the narrative of the war swung back in Ukraine's favor. But no time is it needed more than this week, after months in which the vital plank of US support has been in doubt, and as Russian and Ukrainian delegations met for a second round of peace talks in Turkey. It also brings to the forefront one of the key lessons of this war: the capacity for advances in technology, solid intelligence and bold execution to reverse military trajectories many observers felt were settled. Ukraine's first use of attack drones in 2023 has evolved to a widescale tactic, enabling it to survive the onslaught of overwhelming Russian infantry attacks across wide, imperiled frontlines. It has sent sea-drones to hit Russia's prized Black Sea Fleet. And most extraordinarily, this weekend, Ukraine says its air defenses repelled, with unparalleled success, a record Russian drone attack of 472 Shaheds. Ukraine shot down or used electronic warfare to block 382 of them, according to the air force, a feat that again suggests a technological advance, and the possibility that dwindling air defense interceptor supplies from the United States may not be the immediate horrific threat thought a month ago. But what of the wider impact of the bold drone attack inside Russia – one so deep, in Belaya, Irkutsk, that it was almost halfway across Siberia? What does it change in a war where Russia is slowly advancing, and showing little genuine interest in a ceasefire and the peace that might come with it? This is an unknowable, but not a zero. Losing these aircraft has a practical effect, and impacts upon Russian military pride and anxiety. Even airfields deep in Siberia are not safe. Russia's lumbering bulk of a military machine projects invulnerability and fearlessness towards the longest of wars as a tactic. It uses the idea of time being on its side as a key asset. But strikes like the weekend's show its hardware is vulnerable, limited and probably not easy to replace. Moscow may brush off this latest setback, its rigidly subservient state media able to sustain any narrative the Kremlin chooses. But that does not alter the reality of its troubles. It did not stop the short-lived Wagner rebellion of 2023, or the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk last year. The damage is twofold: to the internal narrative that Moscow can do this indefinitely – it clearly cannot, if surprises like these keep coming. And secondly, to its ability to visit the sort of bulk destruction it has relied upon to grind forwards in the war. The latter can slow its progress, but former is more dangerous. Tiny cracks can spread. For now, they are all Ukraine is able to inflict, but their longer-term impact, like so much in this war, is utterly unpredictable.
CBC
a day ago
- Politics
- CBC
In using cheap drones to take out prized Russian bombers, Ukraine sends a defiant message
Social Sharing Ukraine's audacious drone attack on Russian airfields on Sunday, including some thousands of kilometres from the front line, was carefully co-ordinated and executed to send a clear message to Moscow, as well as to those who doubt Kyiv's ability to inflict significant damage more than three years into Russia's invasion. Ukraine may be pushing for a ceasefire, but it is far from ready to capitulate to Russia's demands. The attack on the eve of peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey, was a reminder that "one can achieve more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word," said Ukrainian political pundit Taras Zahorodniy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the high-tech operation had been planned for more than a year and a half. It demonstrated that Kyiv can successfully launch cheap drones against some of Russia's most valuable military assets: strategic Tupolev bombers, which are used to launch guided cruise missiles over the border, and can be equipped with nuclear weapons. It was a brazen military manoeuvre that not only rebuffed criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump — who proclaimed in that now-infamous Oval Office meeting that Zelenskyy did not "have the cards" to negotiate in the current conflict — but also showed the evolution of warfare, and the damage that can be inflicted by swarms of drones. "A brilliant operation was carried out," said Zelenskyy in his evening statement, which went out on social media. "Our people worked in different Russian regions, in three time zones." Ukraine says 117 drones were smuggled into Russia, and then concealed in the roofs of wooden sheds and later loaded onto the backs of trucks. Then yesterday, one by one, they were remotely launched. WATCH | Ukraine launches swarm of drones on Russia military targets: Ukraine deploys swarms of drones to target Russian warplanes 11 hours ago Duration 1:57 On the eve of a second round of peace talks, Ukraine launched what it calls its longest-range attack against Russia, using drones to target Russian warplanes. Ukrainian authorities said they had been planning this for more than a year and a half. Videos circulating on Russian social media showed the drones taking off, as gunfire rang out in an attempt to shoot them down. In one video, a few men climbed on top of a truck trailer and tried to throw rocks at the quadcopters. Damage claims not yet verified It's not immediately clear how devastating a hit it was on Russia's air force. A Ukrainian official initially said 41 planes were hit, and footage released by Kyiv showed Russian planes engulfed in flames. On Monday morning, Ukraine's national security and defence council said that 13 planes were destroyed in the attack, and others were damaged. In a statement, Russia's defence ministry confirmed that Ukraine had launched drone attacks against five airfields, including one in the Amur region, which is 5,600 km from the border with Ukraine. Russia said three of the attacks were "repelled" but that several aircraft on two bases caught fire. The airstrips were at the Olenya airbase, which is above the Arctic Circle, and the Belaya base in Siberia, which lies more than 4,000 km from Ukraine. "We expect in a day or two to have higher-resolution satellite imagery of those bases," said Jakub Janovsky, who is based in Prague and an administrator of the website Oryx, which tracks Ukrainian and Russian military equipment losses. In a Zoom interview with CBC News, Janovsky described the attack as innovative and said it highlights the vulnerability of Russian aircraft. Only specific bases can accommodate these warplanes, and in recent months, Russia has been deploying its aircraft farther back to stay out of reach of long-range drones and Western weapons, like the U.S.-made HIMARS systems. The drone attacks "won't completely stop Russia from launching more missile attacks, but Russia will have to be way more careful and move additional air defences to the rear," Janovsky said. "It would be an additional strain on their already stretched resources." Setting stage for peace talks Influential Russian military bloggers are calling for their country to retaliate. Meanwhile in Ukraine, there is a sense of pride and even glee that this was carried out just before the second round of peace talks in Turkey. The first round of direct negotiations ended in Istanbul on May 16 after just a few hours, with Russia still refusing to implement a 30-day ceasefire. Russia had demanded that Ukraine abandon its desire to join NATO and withdraw its military from four regions Russia has laid claim to. The talks on Monday began late and and wrapped up after barely an hour. But some Ukrainians believe Kyiv already sent its message. "I would love to see the faces of the Russian delegation members," said Ukrainian aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko in an interview with Reuters. "After such a slap in the face, in front of the entire world, how could [Russia's delegation] come and say, 'We want not four, but six [Ukrainian] regions now?'" Glen Grant, a retired British lieutenant-colonel and defence expert with the Latvia-based Baltic Security Foundation, just returned from Ukraine and believes the drone strikes give the country a much stronger hand going into peace talks. "They will go with a smile on their face and will not be thinking, hey, we're the losers and we have to fight you for all we can," Grant said in an interview with CBC News. He is pessimistic that anything will come out of the talks, and is concerned by Russian advances across the front line — particularly in Ukraine's Sumy region, where Russia claims that over the weekend it seized a village five kilometres from the border. A wake-up call Grant said he is keen to see if Russian President Vladimir Putin, who typically stays quiet about military losses, addresses the drone attacks at all. Ukraine's strike shouldn't be taken as a wake-up call just for Russia, but for governments everywhere about how easily drones can be deployed, Grant said. Given that dozens of them were concealed and launched remotely from the back of a transport truck, they could certainly be launched from other vehicles, like container ships or small boats. "[The attack] actually shows that the game has changed fundamentally with warfare," Grant said.
