Russian president Vladimir Putin has remained silent for more than 24 hours following a large- scale drone operation by Ukraine’s SBU security service.
Putin has issued no public statement on the strikes that hit airbases in Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ryazan, and Ivanovo oblasts, where at least 13 Russian strategic bombers were destroyed, according to open-source intelligence analysts.
The outlet also noted that Putin has not responded to the collapse of railway bridges in Bryansk and Kursk oblasts, which left seven people dead and more than 100 injured.
On June 2, the Kremlin press service published only a brief message congratulating the Baikonur Cosmodrome on its 70th anniversary.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev — now deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council and known for recent nuclear threats against Ukraine and the West — has also “swallowed his tongue,” The Moscow Times wrote.
Lawmakers in Russia’s State Duma have similarly offered no comment on the drone strikes. The country’s Defense Ministry issued a vague statement acknowledging that “several pieces of equipment caught fire.”
Vladimir Medinsky, who heads the Russian delegation in talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, also remained silent about the strikes. On the eve of the second round of negotiations, he told Russian propagandists he was in a “good mood.”
Operation Cobweb: key details
On June 1, the SBU carried out a major operation to destroy Russian strategic aircraft. Initial reports said more than 40 planes used in strikes on Ukrainian cities were hit, including A-50 early warning aircraft and Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers.
The operation targeted five airbases inside Russia: Olenya in Murmansk Oblast, Belaya in Irkutsk Oblast, Dyagilevo in Ryazan Oblast, Ivanovo in Ivanovo Oblast, and Ukrainka in Amur Oblast — the latter strike reportedly failed. The hit on Belaya marked the first known Ukrainian strike on a military site in Siberia since the start of the full-scale war.
The aircraft were struck by drones launched from trucks parked nearby. According to NV sources in Ukraine’s security services, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally oversaw the operation, which was carried out by Vasyl Maliuk and a team from the SBU.
The operation was highly complex and took more than 18 months to plan. The SBU first smuggled FPV drones into Russia, then sent small wooden mobile homes in which the drones were concealed beneath the roofs while mounted on trucks. At the chosen time, the roofs were remotely opened and the drones launched toward Russian bombers. Zelenskyy later said 117 drones were used in the strike.
The agency added that 34% of Russia’s cruise missile-carrying strategic bombers based at key airfields were affected.
As of June 2, initial satellite images from Belaya airbase confirmed at least eight aircraft were destroyed or damaged there: four Tu-95MS and four Tu-22M3 bombers. Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, reported that at least 13 aircraft were destroyed in the operation, with additional damage likely.
