WEB OF DESTRUCTION
Ukraine’s SAS-style ‘Spiderweb’ blitz step by incredible step: Smuggled drones, booby-trapped crates & a $7bn hammerblow
Read how the attack happened right under Vladimir Putin's nose below
UKRAINE'S shock sleeper drone blitz on Russia's bomber fleet has delivered a hammer blow to Vladimir Putin's nuclear arsenal.
The SAS-style strike against four airfields deep inside Russia is reminiscent of the most daring raids of the WW2 that turned the tide against the Nazis.
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Volodymyr Zelensky oversaw Operation Spiderweb - much like Winston Churchill did as Britain struck deep behind enemy lines.
The Ukrainian said: "It’s genuinely satisfying when something I authorized a year and six months ago comes to fruition and deprives Russians of over forty units of strategic aviation.
"We will continue this work."
Putin's doomsday bomber fleet is now crippled with 41, or a third, of his most prized aircraft lying in smouldering wrecks on tarmac.
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Ukraine said the sneak attack was worth $7bn (£5.2bn) in damage to Russia - caused by only 117 cheaply made drones.
Like Israel's mass pager sabotage against Hezbollah, Kyiv has rewritten the rule book in how to strike the heart of their enemy.
Ukraine's spies spent 18 months putting the plan into action and struck on the eve of fresh peace talks in Istanbul.
June 1 also marks the infamous date Ukraine handed back its last nuclear bomb to Russia 26 years ago.
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SBU spies targeted five Russian airbases in the daring mission that is continuing Ukraine's pioneering use of drone warfare.
Kyiv has now released detailed information about how it evaded Putin's spies and conducted the strike.
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The drones and the containers were smuggled into Russia separately and were pieced together right under Vlad's nose.
Clueless lorry drivers then parked the containers next to Russian airbases - where they sat and waited in plain sight.
Zelensky said the drivers were led far away from their vehicles - as Ukraine looked to hide those involved being captured and interrogated the FSB.
Then, on the morning of June 1, the fleet of flying bombs rose over the far reaches of Russia - and the most daring military operation of the war began.
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Nondescript shipping containers parked in laybys and verges had attracted little attention - before their lids blew open and the drone swarms poured out.
Russian civilians stood in awe as they saw the drones zoom out of the containers and head in the direction of the airbase.
The craft buzzed as they took off into the air and only had to travel a short distance to their valuable targets.
Each of the 117 drones had their own dedicated pilot and Russia had little defences to protect their bases and stop them.
One hapless Russian soldier stationed at an air base recorded himself standing just meters from several burning wrecks.
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CCTV recorded other Russia soldiers trying to use anti-drone guns on the craft speeding past - but to no avail.
Drones with cameras sent video back to HQ in Ukraine of the moment craft struck their targets and explosions ripped into the sky.
Thick black smoke climbed high, with civilians near the bases sending video of Ukraine's successes around the world.
The furthest strike was Belaya Air Base - so far inside Russia that the closest neighbouring country is Mongolia.
Olenya Air Base near Finland and Ivanovo and Dyagilevo near Moscow were also struck in the country's west.
Russia's strength - it's size - had become its weakness - with military planners not banking on needing to defend attacks deep inside Siberia, one expert said.
Zelensky touted the operation as "historic" and revealed he had overseen Operation Spiderweb.
The valiant leader said: "What’s most interesting, and this can now be stated publicly, is that the 'office' of our operation on Russian territory was located directly next to FSB headquarters in one of their regions."
Planning was so secretive that Donald Trump and the White House - who is providing Ukraine with key intelligence and weapons - was not told.
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Destroying the nuclear bombers is key for Ukraine's defence as they are one way that Moscow is able to send its nightly barrage of bombs at the country.
Fresh satellite pictures from Belaya airfield, in Irkutsk Oblast deep inside Siberia, show planes lying in ruins on the runway.
Ukraine had also thought about how to destroy the evidence of their attack.
The containers were booby trapped and fitted with explosive devices.
They appeared to go off following the successful attack, or if locals started to fiddle with the crates.
Burning husks were leftover as Ukraine's agents made a clean getaway, according to Zelensky.
Putin has quickly struck back - attempting to look strong as one arm of his nuclear triad has almost been destroyed.
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Two nuclear-missile capable Russian submarines are said to now be beneath the waves of the Black Sea.
Ukraine has already sent drones to destroy them, sources claim.
Kyiv has also sent another drone swarm to attack Kursk with one city seeing explosions like fireworks near apartment buildings.
Russia's Ministry of Defence branded Sunday's surprise strikes as "terrorist attacks" and claimed that the drones had all been "repelled" - despite the damning footage taken by its own citizens.
Stunned Kremlin commentators described the blitz as “Russia’s Pearl Harbour” as they called on Putin to hit back with a nuclear response.
Ukraine hit long-range Tu-22M3 bombers, used in daily raids on Ukraine, Tu-95 long-range bombers an A-50 air reconnaissance aircraft.
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The A-50 is an Early Airborne Warning and Control System, worth a cool £260million each.
The drones were reportedly trained by artificial intelligence (AI) to recognise the Russian bombers and execute automatic dive attack algorithms.
Restrictions on long-range missiles lifted for Ukraine
By Dominic Kearns, Video Journalist
RESTRICTIONS being lifted on long-range missiles for Ukraine marks a "very significant move" in the war, a decorated British Army commander has said.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun: "We're talking about most significantly the German Taurus missile, but also the British storm shadow the French scalp and attackums and Himars from the US.
"They've been very restricted in their usage across the Russian border. But what this means now is that Ukraine can strike, you know, with the longest range of these missiles, sort of plus or 500 kilometers into Russia.
"That's where lot of the airfields are within that range which are firing cruise missiles back into Ukraine, and also where a lot of forces are building up.
"So it allows Ukraine to get on the front foot and stall some of the Russian activities."
Mr de Bretton-Gordon said that a number of circumstances had overlapped which pushed Ukraine's allies to lift the restrictions at this moment.
He said: "First of all, there's President Trump's failed attempts to get the Russians to the negotiation table. we were supposed to have a meeting between Zelensky and Putin in Istanbul just over 10 days ago - but Putin never showed up.
"Then we've seen massive drone and missile strikes over the past few days. And that's frustrating Trump - as seen with his vitriolic outburst calling Putin crazy.
"Putin is really playing Trump as an idiot at the moment, and I'm sure that has infuriated the Americans, which is why they have taken the caveats off their missiles.
"The Germans, who've been very slow to support Ukraine, now, with this, the new government under Frederick Mertz, seem to be far more committed and realize that this war could go on a long time - this war could spill over into Western Europe.
"With their Taurus missiles, they have a very significant capability that the Ukrainians need. So I think it is a realization that actually Putin has no interest in peace at the moment."
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