How Ukraine Used Cheap Drones and a Lot of Ingenuity to Strike a Major Blow Against Russia
Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on 'what the papers don't say' - without fear or favour.
For digital and print editions, packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, features, and columns….
SUBSCRIBE
Operation Spider Web - an absolutely unprecedented event that they'll be making movies about in the not too distant future.
It's been a long time since we had some good news about the war in Ukraine, and on Sunday the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) delivered in the most spectacular way possible by taking out a significant number of Russia's heavy bombers using a handful of cheap, disposable FPV drones.
Now there are two things you need to know about these bombers. Firstly, they're the ones that Russia uses to regularly launch mass-missile attacks at Ukrainian cities.
Secondly, they do this in the most cowardly way possible. During one of the countless, regular mass missile strikes, these bombers never fly anywhere near Ukraine. They launch their missiles over the Caspian Sea, far out of range of Ukraine's air defences.
And they take off and land at air bases far out of range of Ukraine's own missiles (some drones can reach them but given their smaller warheads they've only had limited effect).
This has obviously presented Ukraine with a problem for a while now - how to stop Russia's indiscriminate bombing of Ukraine's cities?
The answer, it turns out, is with some cheap little drones and a lot of ingenuity.
Operation Spider Web - a year-and-a-half in the planning - saw 137 FPV drones equipped with small explosives smuggled into Russia and then hidden in the roofs of small wooden cabins.
These cabins were then transported across Russia on trucks. When the trucks stopped near four Russian air bases, the roofs of the cabins retracted and the drones flew out and headed towards the Russian bombers.
The full extent of the damage is not yet known, but the SBU claims to have hit more than 40 aircraft, disabling a third of Russia's heavy bomber fleet, and inflicted $7 billion in damage.
And it's the money involved that really show not only how incredible this operation was, but the dramatically changing face of modern warfare.
UN Confirms Russian Drone Attacks on Kherson are Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes
Zarina Zabrisky, who first exposed the "human safari" in Kherson for Byline Times in July 2024, reports on the UN's historic confirmation that Russia deliberately targeted civilians in a campaign of terror.
Zarina Zabrisky
Each of these FPV drones costs only a few hundred dollars, and yet they're being used to destroy Russian military equipment costing millions - a single Russian A-50 radar aircraft is estimated to be worth round $350 million.
And in a marvellous twist, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday evening claimed the base of operations for Spider Web was located "directly next to FSB headquarters in one of their regions".
Whether or not Spider Web succeeds in stopping Russian mass-missile attacks remains to be seen, but the positive psychological boost in Ukraine is badly needed right now.
"Christmas has come early this year", one friend told me.
There is of course the question of how Russia will respond. They have plenty of ballistic missiles, and even the Oreshnik, which they can deploy to cover up their embarrassment.
But for now at least, Ukraine is celebrating a huge win.
Talks and Sanctions
As I write this, it's 131 days since Donald Trump took office, promising to end the war in Ukraine in 100 days, and by most measures, we're further from peace than when he started.
But there could be some positive movement in the coming days. Let's begin this look back at the last two weeks by looking ahead to the next one.
Firstly, there could be big things happening in the US Senate this week. For a while now, there has been a bill on the cards that, if passed and enacted, would finally see the White House exert...
For digital and print editions, packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, features, and columns….
SUBSCRIBE
Operation Spider Web - an absolutely unprecedented event that they'll be making movies about in the not too distant future.
It's been a long time since we had some good news about the war in Ukraine, and on Sunday the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) delivered in the most spectacular way possible by taking out a significant number of Russia's heavy bombers using a handful of cheap, disposable FPV drones.
Now there are two things you need to know about these bombers. Firstly, they're the ones that Russia uses to regularly launch mass-missile attacks at Ukrainian cities.
Secondly, they do this in the most cowardly way possible. During one of the countless, regular mass missile strikes, these bombers never fly anywhere near Ukraine. They launch their missiles over the Caspian Sea, far out of range of Ukraine's air defences.
And they take off and land at air bases far out of range of Ukraine's own missiles (some drones can reach them but given their smaller warheads they've only had limited effect).
This has obviously presented Ukraine with a problem for a while now - how to stop Russia's indiscriminate bombing of Ukraine's cities?
The answer, it turns out, is with some cheap little drones and a lot of ingenuity.
Operation Spider Web - a year-and-a-half in the planning - saw 137 FPV drones equipped with small explosives smuggled into Russia and then hidden in the roofs of small wooden cabins.
These cabins were then transported across Russia on trucks. When the trucks stopped near four Russian air bases, the roofs of the cabins retracted and the drones flew out and headed towards the Russian bombers.
The full extent of the damage is not yet known, but the SBU claims to have hit more than 40 aircraft, disabling a third of Russia's heavy bomber fleet, and inflicted $7 billion in damage.
And it's the money involved that really show not only how incredible this operation was, but the dramatically changing face of modern warfare.
UN Confirms Russian Drone Attacks on Kherson are Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes
Zarina Zabrisky, who first exposed the "human safari" in Kherson for Byline Times in July 2024, reports on the UN's historic confirmation that Russia deliberately targeted civilians in a campaign of terror.
Zarina Zabrisky
Each of these FPV drones costs only a few hundred dollars, and yet they're being used to destroy Russian military equipment costing millions - a single Russian A-50 radar aircraft is estimated to be worth round $350 million.
And in a marvellous twist, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday evening claimed the base of operations for Spider Web was located "directly next to FSB headquarters in one of their regions".
Whether or not Spider Web succeeds in stopping Russian mass-missile attacks remains to be seen, but the positive psychological boost in Ukraine is badly needed right now.
"Christmas has come early this year", one friend told me.
There is of course the question of how Russia will respond. They have plenty of ballistic missiles, and even the Oreshnik, which they can deploy to cover up their embarrassment.
But for now at least, Ukraine is celebrating a huge win.
Talks and Sanctions
As I write this, it's 131 days since Donald Trump took office, promising to end the war in Ukraine in 100 days, and by most measures, we're further from peace than when he started.
But there could be some positive movement in the coming days. Let's begin this look back at the last two weeks by looking ahead to the next one.
Firstly, there could be big things happening in the US Senate this week. For a while now, there has been a bill on the cards that, if passed and enacted, would finally see the White House exert...
Activity