An AI video created by NDTV demonstrates how Ukraine made the impossible possible
On the eve of peace talks, Ukraine launched a covert operation against Russia, described as one for the "history books" by Volodymyr Zelensky. The operation codenamed "Spider's Web" involved cheaply made drones that were sneaked deep into Russian territory and used to attack its military airfields.
An AI video created by NDTV demonstrates how Ukraine made the impossible possible, using cost-effective means to exact Russian losses, with an element of surprise.
Semi-trailer trucks packed with 117 Ukrainian drones - just $1,200 each - were driven by clueless drivers into Russian territory. From there, the drones took off to strike Russia's strategic bombers. The video shows the explosive-laden drones hidden inside wooden containers in the truck. The roof panels of the containers were lifted off by a remotely activated mechanism, allowing the drones to fly out and begin their attack.
By the end, over 40 Russian warplanes were severely damaged or destroyed in the span of a few hours, with costs estimated to be around $7 billion, according to Ukraine's security service SBU.
The most striking target was Belaya air base in the Siberian region of Irkutsk, over 4,000 kilometres away from Ukraine. That is beyond the range of the long-range strike drones or ballistic missiles Ukraine has in its arsenal, so it required a special scheme to get the drones close enough to their targets.
The operation - planned for more than a year and a half - 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. It involved smuggling in first-person view, or FPV, drones to Russia, where they were placed in the wooden containers, which were eventually taken by trucks close to the airfields.
All operatives taking part had been brought out of Russia "on the eve of the operation", said Zelensky, who personally oversaw the operation.
Russia's Defence Ministry acknowledged on the Telegram messaging app that Ukraine had launched drone strikes against Russian military airfields across five regions on Sunday.
Air attacks were repelled in all but two regions - Murmansk in the far north and Irkutsk in Siberia - where "the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire."
The fires were extinguished without casualties. Some individuals involved in the attacks had been detained, the ministry said.
SBU said Russia had lost 34 percent of its strategic cruise missile carriers at its airfields. It claimed A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22M were destroyed in the attack.
The attack 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 loss of the planes could reduce Russia's ability to deliver devastating missile barrages against Ukraine. The Irkutsk region air base hosts Tupolev Tu-22M supersonic long-range strategic bombers, a type of aircraft that has been used to launch missiles against targets in Ukraine.
