Ukraine drone attack hits 40 Russian military aircrafts in massive attack: Report
Ukraine's SBU officials said that the nation conducted a massive drone attack against Russia on Sunday, 1 June 2025, hitting more than 40 Russian military aircraft, including the long-range bombers.
Ukraine's Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the nation's domestic security agency, carried out a massive drone attack against Russia on Sunday, 1 June 2025, hitting more than 40 Russian military aircraft, reported the news agency Reuters, citing SBU officials aware of the development.
The report also highlighted that the drone attack struck military aircraft, including Tu-95 and the Tu-22, which are the strategic bombers for the Russian Air Force. Russia reportedly used these aircraft to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine.
A video went viral on the social media platform X, which showed military aircraft on fire, alleging that those were the Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers, which were ablaze due to the Ukrainian drone strike.
Russia's Murmansk Governor also said that the Ukrainian drones attacked the region, according to a separate report from the news agency.
However, the news agency could not verify the development. LiveMint couldn't independently verify the report.
Ukraine Drone Attack Details
According to the local news portal, The Kyiv Independent's report, citing people aware of the development, Sunday's drone attack was a special operation from the SBU.
“Enemy strategic bombers are burning en masse in Russia — this is the result of a special operation by the SBU,” they told the news portal. “Right now, the Security Service of Ukraine is conducting a large-scale special operation to destroy enemy bomber aircraft in the rear of the Russian Federation,” they said.
According to the news portal's report, at least one of the airfields hit in the drone attack was the Belaya airbase in Russia's Irkutsk Oblast, which ranges more than 4,000 kilometres from Ukraine. However, the news portal could not verify the claims separately.
In March 2025, Ukraine reportedly announced that it had developed a new drone with a range of 3,000 kilometres; however, they did not give any details of the drone's capability or features, or when it would go into mass production.
Another report from RBC Ukraine said that the special operation has been named Spiderweb, and has caused damage to Russia of more than $2 billion.
“Right now, the Security Service of Ukraine is conducting a large-scale special operation to destroy enemy bomber aviation deep inside Russian territory,” people aware of the development told RBC Ukraine on Sunday.