US EditionWhat Russia’s Air Force Looked Like Before Operation Spider’s Web
- On June 1, 2025, Ukraine launched Operation Spider's Web, striking five Russian airbases across five time zones using 117 drones including deep strikes into Siberia.
- The operation followed over 18 months of planning and aimed to degrade Russia's strategic bomber and AWAC fleets, as well as challenge Moscow's military dominance.
- Ukrainian forces destroyed nearly a third of Russia's nuclear-capable bombers and almost half of airborne early warning aircraft, with targets confirmed including Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3, and A-50 models.
- Ukraine claims destroying 40-plus aircraft worth over $7 billion, while Russia's Defense Ministry downplayed damage and repelled some attacks; visuals of drone strikes have dominated media coverage since Sunday.
- Operation Spider's Web secured Ukraine a strategic edge, boosting its negotiating position and demonstrating its resilience and mastery of asymmetric warfare despite Russia’s greater resources.
34 Articles
34 Articles
What Russia’s Air Force Looked Like Before Operation Spider’s Web
Key Points Ukraine executed Operation Spider’s Web on June 1, 2025, devastating five Russian Air Bases Damages to the Russian Air Force are estimated at $7 billion USD, while the attack is said to have cost $2,000 to carry out Prior to the attack, the Russian Air Force had roughly 4,200 aircraft (including trainers) at the ready Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset’s free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes t…
Ukraine's Operation Spider Web redefined the front lines of war
A series of blasts at airbases deep inside Russia on June 1, 2025, came as a rude awakening to Moscow’s military strategists. The Ukrainian strike at the heart Russia’s strategic bombing capability could also upend the traditional rules of war: It provides smaller military a blueprint for countering a larger nation’s ability to launch airstrikes […] The post Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web redefined the front lines of war appeared first on Asia T…
The kings of the drone age
It took Ukraine 18 months to plan Operation Spider Web, but just minutes for its swarm of cheap drones to send a $7 billion message to Russia and the world: war is entering a new epoch. An age of asymmetric power has arrived, and it is disordering traditional power dynamics everywhere, from how armies fight to how citizens relate to their rulers. Last weekend, over 100 first-person view Ukrainian drones whacked four air bases across Russia — the
Ukraine’s Strategic Game-Changer | by Ian Bremmer - Project Syndicate
Ukraine has just demonstrated, in spectacular fashion, that a small but determined and innovative country can deploy cheap, scalable, and decentralized technology to challenge a much larger, conventionally superior foe. The implications for the war with Russia, and for modern warfare, could be profound.
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