In an operation that has stunned military analysts and showcased the evolution of modern warfare, Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, orchestrated a precise and devastating drone assault deep inside Russian territory. Despite Moscow’s elaborate efforts to disguise its high-value bombers with decoys, debris, and deception, Ukraine managed to strike hard, inflicting what has been described as a “devastating blow” to Russia’s long-range air fleet.
Satellite images captured by Maxar Technologies reveal the extent of Russia’s pre-emptive camouflage tactics—painting fake aircraft on tarmacs, draping bombers with tires, and scattering debris over dummy planes. Still, none of it could deter Ukraine’s daring strike across four Russian airbases on June 8, a mission that’s now being hailed as one of the most sophisticated long-range drone operations in the conflict to date.
In the weeks leading up to the strike, Russian military forces deployed a range of visual trickery in an attempt to confuse Ukrainian surveillance and targeting systems. Maxar’s satellite imagery shows Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 bombers at Belaya airbase covered with tires and various objects, flat silhouettes, and painted decoys scattered across airfields, mimicking real aircraft and debris placed on fake planes to enhance realism and potentially disrupt visual and radar recognition systems.
Brady Africk, an open-source intelligence analyst, told Business Insider that Russia had been “placing tires on top of parked planes to confuse the targeting systems of Ukrainian weapons” and had also “positioned solid objects on the ground in the rough shape of aircraft.” These tactics, while innovative, ultimately failed to mislead Ukraine’s drone operators.
Ukraine’s SBU said this was no hasty retaliation but a highly planned maneuver that took over 18 months to prepare. Using explosive-laden quadcopters, operatives smuggled drones inside wooden containers hidden in trucks across Russia. The containers were parked near the targeted airbases, and on June 8, the hatches were remotely opened, unleashing dozens of drones that flew straight toward their marks.
Targets included A-50 early warning aircraft, Il-76 and An-12 transport planes, Il-78 refueling tankers, Tu-95, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 strategic bombers.
The affected airbases, Belaya (Irkutsk), Olenya (Murmansk), Dyagilevo (Ryazan), and Ivanovo (Ivanovo), were hit with waves of drones. Ukrainka airbase in the Amur region was also targeted but reportedly spared from damage.
Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, head of the SBU, declared the operation a “serious slap in the face” to the Kremlin, estimating over $7 billion in damages and the loss of a third of Russia’s cruise missile carriers. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described it as “a unique operation,” involving 117 first-person-view drones and their operators in a synchronised, multi-location assault.
Video footage showed drones directly hitting aircraft, even those shielded with tires, highlighting the ineffectiveness of Russia’s deception. Despite the Defense Ministry in Moscow acknowledging the strike, it downplayed its scale and impact.
Africk, reflecting on the effectiveness of Ukraine’s mission, stated: “It is clear from the number of aircraft destroyed that Ukraine’s attack on these bases was very successful, despite Russia’s attempts at deception.”
The attack not only decimated strategic assets but also sent a clear message about Ukraine’s growing capabilities. Belaya airbase, for example, is more than 2,500 miles from the Ukrainian border, yet it was still within Kyiv’s reach, thanks to the stealthy and cost-effective use of drones.
