‘117 drones, 2,200 kg of explosives’: Ukraine reveals new details of Operation Spider Web against Russia

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in a closed-door briefing on Monday (Jun 23) unveiled the details about ‘Operation Spider Web’, which Kyiv launched on June 1. The large-scale special operations targeted five airbases thousands of miles inside the Russian territory in one of the biggest military moves undertaken by Kyiv since the three-year war began in February 2022. Calling it a major breakthrough in the three-year-long war, SBU chief Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk shared new details about the third successful attack on the Crimean Bridge. He described the ‘audacious’ operation as a complex, multi-component project involving over 100 drones.

Malyuk revealed that 117 combat drones equipped with unique warheads were used in the secret operation. He said, “We deployed 117 drones, and the results were seen by the entire world. The warhead inside each drone consisted of two components — 800 grams and 800 grams — making a total of 1.6 kilograms of a special shaped-charge high-explosive. We targeted fuel tanks, the side of the aircraft where the missile was located, and avionics — the kind of equipment the enemy has no replacement for.”

The operation, which took over a year and a half to prepare, needed meticulous logistics. This involved the covert delivery of autonomous launch “cabins” equipped with solar panels and EcoFlow batteries into the Russian territory. This also included corrupting Russian customs officials to move the sanctioned equipment into the enemy territory across the border.

“The time we spent preparing ‘Spider Web’: one year, six months, and nine days. We began in November 2023,” he said. He added that most participants were kept in the dark about the full operation and only a limited number of people were aware of the true scope of the mission, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and one trusted SBU officer.

“The people who built the drones didn’t know they were for ‘Spider Web.’ The ones who built the cabins didn’t know they were for aircraft. Those transporting the equipment weren’t aware of the details either... Everyone was responsible for their critical part of the mission,” Malyuk said.

He said that he personally assembled the best drone operators from SBU’s Alpha unit, adding, “They arrived at the command centre at 5 am, surrendered their phones, and got to work. Each operator was assigned a specific aircraft and given a terrain mock-up showing elevations, cabin locations, and the drone’s route to the target.” He added, “This is a marker that Ukraine fights with our intelligence. We are capable of unconventional solutions.”

In long-range drone operations, at least five airfields in Russia’s Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ryazan, and Amur regions were targeted. Ukraine has claimed that up to 40 aircraft were damaged or destroyed in the regions holding striking strategic bombers and surveillance aircraft.

Malyuk called the operation the beginning of a “new era” and confirmed Ukraine’s third successful strike on the Crimean Bridge. He noted, “We used 1,100 kilograms of explosives — and another 1,100 kilograms. Two strikes against key supports…”

Ukraine earlier struck the bridge in 2022 using a truck loaded with 21 tons of explosives. In its second strike in 2023, it used the SBU’s maritime drones known as “Sea Baby”.