More than 100 drones were smuggled deep into Russia by Ukrainian spies and hidden in the rooftops of specially constructed wooden cabins. These roofs then opened remotely at the moment of attack, with the drones swarming out and striking more than 40 bomber jets parked at Russian airfields across the country. One of the targets — the Belaya airfield in Siberia — is 3,500 miles from Ukraine (the same distance as D.C. is from your author’s house in south London). Yet Russia never saw it coming.
This is a game-changing moment in modern warfare, with repercussions for every serious military on the planet, including here in America. At relatively little expense — although with jaw-dropping audacity — a small-ish nation has delivered a major strategic setback to one of the most powerful militaries on earth, deep inside its own territory. The U.S., China and others will be intently watching. Russian pro-military bloggers called it “our Pearl Harbor” — though this was no unprovoked attack.
A Ukrainian drone attack has destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russia’s territory, Ukraine’s Security Service said on Sunday, while Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones just hours before a new round of direct peace talks in Istanbul.
A military official, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to disclose operational details, said the far-reaching attack took more than a year and a half to execute and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In his evening address, Zelenskyy said that 117 drones had been used in the operation. He claimed the operation had been headquartered out of an office next to the local FSB headquarters. The FSB is the Russian intelligence and security service.
