Standing questions after the unimaginable “spider web” operation towards Russia | EUROtoday

On Jun 3, 2025

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Lhe Russian strategic bombers caught within the SBU “spider web”, the Ukrainian intelligence service. The operation carried out on 1^er June round 10 a.m. (Moscow time) deeply struck the Russian bombing capacities. Four air bases have been attacked concurrently by drones, together with Belaya’s base, positioned in Siberia virtually 5,000 km from Ukraine, and that of Oleynya, close to the border with Finland, at simply over 2,000 km. A fifth base, Ukrainka, 6,330 km from kyiv, was additionally focused, however the truck carrying the camouflaged drones would have caught hearth earlier than the assault. This shouldn’t be the primary time that Ukraine has been hitting air base drones in Russia. But the extent of the operation and the tactic used are unpublished.

“The preparation lasted more than a year and a half. Planning, organization, each detail has been perfectly executed. It can be said without hesitation that it was an absolutely unique operation, ”welcomed X Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the Ukrainian president, 117 drones piloted in FPV had been used, and 34 % of the Russian strategic bombers affected. All of the injury would attain SBU a worth of seven billion {dollars}.

At least 13 Russian bombers destroyed

This assault happens whereas Russia was getting ready to massively strike Ukrainian territory. The earlier night time, the Ukrainian Air Force mentioned that 472 drones and 7 ballistic and cruise missiles attacked Ukraine, of which 385 had been intercepted. “It is a turning point in the history of long -distance strikes”, judges Yohann Michel, affiliate researcher on the Institute of Strategic Study and Defense of the University of Lyon 3. “The depth of the territory was one of the main assets of Russia for its defense. Here, it has become a handicap with the impossibility of controlling all the trucks. »»

At first, the SBU assured {that a} forty gadgets had been destroyed. Videos and first satellite tv for pc photographs attest to the destruction or injury of no less than 13 bombers and planes. Based on Belaya, three Tu-95ms bombers had been destroyed, a broken fourth and 4 TU-22M destroyed. Based on Olfa, no less than 5 planes had been destroyed, together with three TU-95ms and one Antonov AN-12, a transport plane.

Intercontinental strategic bomber, the primary prototype of which flew in 1952, the TU-95ms, NATO code title “Bear”, can take six cruise missiles and eight KH-10 missiles beneath its wings. This 51 -meter main quadrim is broadly utilized by Russia to launch missile salvas primarily concentrating on civil infrastructure in Ukraine, all by remaining out of attain of the anti -aircraft defenses. He is a part of the Russian nuclear deterrence triad, with the ability to carry nuclear weapons. But the gadget has not been produced since 1992. Sixty TU-95ms continues to be in service. The two fashions of bomber launch KH-101/KH-555 and KH-59/69 cruise missiles towards Ukraine.

The TU-22M (NATO Code “Backfire”), developed within the late Nineteen Seventies, is a median bomber with variable geometry wings. It can take six missiles within the maintain and 4 beneath its wings, with a most offensive load of 24 tonnes. A bit over fifty TU-22M continues to be a service. The two varieties of gadgets can launch KH-101/KH-555 and KH-59/69 cruise missiles.

What response from Russia?

Qualifying the assault of “terrorist”, Moscow appears to attenuate the scope of losses, the Ministry of Defense evoking “several” planes which caught hearth with out giving exact figures. In addition to confirmed destruction, different broken bombers might by no means redecol or lack spare elements. This is the case of TU-95s which haven’t been manufactured since 1992, and a few gadgets of that are cannibalized, that’s to say that they actually develop into a reserve of spare elements to take care of the opposite gadgets. “We will have to see how the next Russian attacks will be configured, but today the bulk of the strikes is made with Kalibr and Iskander missiles, S-300s and drone waves,” mentioned Étienne Marcuz, affiliate researcher with the Foundation for Strategic Research.

The loss of some bombers ought to subsequently not closely handicap Russia and in addition don’t have an effect on its nuclear deterrence, which is essentially based mostly on the soil-ground intercontinental ballistic missiles. “I do not imagine a change of scale in the Russian response as they hit Ukrainian cities every day,” mentioned Yohann Michel. We can presumably count on a standard intercontinental missile shot of the identical sort as that of final November. »»

To uncover

The kangaroo of the day

Answer

While new negotiations with Ukraine resumed this Monday in Istanbul, Russia continues to be ready of energy on the bottom. The commander of the land forces, General Mykhailo Dracatyi, offered his resignation after a Russian missile struck a coaching heart. The nation’s anti-aircraft protection seems saturated, whereas the soil-to-air missiles are delivered within the dropper. The Russian military is on the offensive within the Soumy Oblast in northeast Ukraine. In the east, she superior within the path of the town of Totretsk, whereas the opposite assaults on the entire entrance haven’t basically modified the entrance. Despite an unfavorable digital report, the Ukrainian military continues to withstand, however is clearly troublesome for lack of males and structural reforms of its generally poor command.

How to guard the air bases within the period of drones?

The “spider web” operation, if it has uncovered the Russian weaknesses, raises the query of the protection of air bases typically. “It is the set of NATO air forces that are completely vulnerable to this type of attack,” alerts Yohann Michel. If smaller planes like hunters may be sheltered simply, transport plane just like the A400M or A330 MRTT provide are typically parked within the open air as had been the Russian bombers. Antidron nets may very well be put in, in addition to airwaves towards drones. Inexpensive, this type of operation might go “below the threshold” and never be claimed by a state, and even led by a non -state actor.

https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/les-questions-en-suspens-apres-l-incroyable-operation-toile-d-araignee-contre-la-russie-02-06-2025-2591088_24.php