Ukraine's "Spiderweb" operation stuns Russian aviation

Much of the information provided by Russian media or government representatives is part of propaganda. Such reports are elements of the information war waged by the Russian Federation.

The surprising attack by Kyiv caught everyone off guard. On Sunday, June 1, Ukraine launched an operation under the codename "Spiderweb." Key Russian military airfields were attacked. It was the largest such attack since the beginning of the Russian invasion. More than 40 aircraft were damaged, including the A-50 early warning aircraft and Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers. Losses are estimated at $7 billion.

Leading Kremlin propagandists declared: "It's a Russian Pearl Harbor."

"Because drones attacked from a very short distance, there was no way to evacuate the aircraft out of harm's way or use defense systems like Pancyr or S-300," wrote the author of the Fighterbomber channel. "I think the attack also caught the air defense units by surprise. Today's news is unlikely to be good. Today's day will be remembered as a black day for Russian long-range aviation," the text reads.

"I don't even know how one could respond to this and with what. And yes, we don't have dozens of countries that could provide us with aircraft," wrote Roman Alekhine, a former advisor to the governor of the Kursk region and blogger. "It's a Russian Pearl Harbor," he added.

"A new stage of the war. It was only a matter of time before FPV-drones started hitting our rear areas," said Komsomolskaya Pravda war correspondent Aleksandr Kots. "Now the truth must be told, even if it's bitter," he added.

"The bombers were built during the USSR era and are an invaluable strategic resource," wrote the Romanov Light channel. "The modern command could only cover the fuselages with tires. They didn't even consider hanging a fishing net, as operators do on the front line," it added.

"Hostile sources report that at the Belya airfield, two Tu-160 aircraft might have also been hit," assessed the publicist Ruslan Ostashko cautiously. He added that, along with the Tu-95, this means at least nine damaged machines.

The propaganda channel Dva Majora remarked: "It's a direct blow to the strategic balance of nuclear forces. It's a weakening of our country's nuclear protection."

The largest pro-Russian military channel Rybar noted that the Russian Ministry of Defense was once again unprepared for a quick response and remains silent: "Every time there's chaos and Russia gets hit where it is weak, the ministry buries its head in the sand and doesn't react," the commentary reads.

Rybar reminds that Tu-95 and Tu-22 have long been withdrawn from production, so there's no way to replenish the losses. "This is, without a doubt, very serious damage to the strategic component, caused both by significant failures in the special services' operations and by a negligent approach to aircraft, which, even after all the attacks, stood in the open without cover," the author noted.

In the evening, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky summarized the action on social media after meeting with the head of Ukraine's SBU, Vasyl Maliuk.

"One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution. Our most long-range operation. Our people involved in preparing the operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time," informed Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky added that he instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to inform the public about the details and results of the operation that can be disclosed.