[烛光生存狂]-小结

Chapter 1

THE STRIKE

“A brilliant operation was carried out. It took place on enemy territory and was aimed exclusively at military targets – specifically, the equipment used in strikes against Ukraine. Russia suffered truly significant losses – entirely justified and deserved. ”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

1 June 20251

It was a lazy Sunday morning in Russia on 1 June 2025. The war with Ukraine had been going on now for over three years. That morning 117 Ukrainian drones rose up from the back of four trucks inside of Russia and started flying towards their targeted Russian airbases.2 They were Ukrainian-made Osa (“Wasp”) quadcopters.

They were packed in crates of at least 27 drones each and driven across the country in the back of cargo trucks. The unsuspecting Russian truck drivers thought they were delivering materials for pre- fabricated houses. Instead, several of the drivers were asked to pull over at a local gas station or parking lot, and then suddenly the cover of the cargo container came off and more than two dozen drones took off towards a nearby air base. The drivers were taken completely by surprise.

The drones then attacked the Russian bombers at four air bases across the vast expanse of Russia, from a base above the Arctic Circle near Murmansk, to the heart of European Russia, and out to the middle of Siberia, near Lake Baikal. Large old Russian strategic bombers, like Tu-95s and Tu-22s, came under attack, along with Russia’s valuable Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) Beriev A-50s.3 Maybe two dozen planes were attacked by the drones on three of the airfields, and it appears that over a dozen were destroyed.

This attack stunned Russia, as this was their strategic bomber force. Not only was it being used to regularly strike at Ukrainian infrastructure and cities, but these were the nuclear-capable strategic bombers that were an important part of their Strategic Deterrent Forces. Some Russians, in shock, equated it to a Russian Pearl Harbor.4

This was the strike back at the Russian bomber force which had been regularly firing cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities. It was organized by the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU), in an attempt to take action against the nominally invulnerable Russian strategic bombers that had been striking at them for over the last three years.

The attacking weapons were the Ukrainian-designed and manu- factured small four-propeller drone, call the Osa or “Wasp.”5 The Osa was a small FPV (first person view) drone with a take-off weight without payload of 11 pounds (5 kilograms). It was manufactured by the Ukrainian company First Contact, which was originally Kyiv- based but has now moved to an undisclosed location. The drones are capable of carrying a payload of 7.3 pounds (3.3 kilograms) giving is a fully loaded weight of 18.3 pounds (8.3 kilograms). Twenty-seven or more of these drones loaded into a crate would weigh at least 494 pounds (224.1 kilograms).

One source states that each drone consisted of two warheads each weighing 800 grams. This would give them a combined explosive weight of 3.5 pounds (1.6 kilograms). It is claimed that they are “ …shaped charge explosive devices. They are designed to burn through the aircraft’s fuselage and cause an explosive blast inside, followed by ignition, which we have already seen later as the burning of aviation fuel stored in the aircraft’s fuel tanks.”6

The drone’s top speed is around 93 mph (150 km/h) and it has an airtime of up to 15 minutes. This means that its operational range is effectively no more than 23 miles (37.5 kilometers). Various public stat sheets state that they have a control range of up to ten kilometers and a maximum combat radius of 25 kilometers. They cost less than $500 each.7 The drones took off from less than six miles (ten kilometers) from the bases.

These drones were smuggled into Russia. They were collected in a SBU facility in Chelyabinsk and loaded onto trucks there. The drones were packed in large boxed containers with around 27 or more drones per box (see photo section). The cargo container or cargo box of each truck was rigged so their roof panels could be lifted off by a remote activated mechanism. This would then allow the drones to fly out.8 We suspect each container held 30 drones each, resulting in 120 drones set up for launch from the four activated containers and only 117 launching (97.5% launch).

They were driven across the county by unsuspecting Russian drivers in flatbed or cargo trucks. In at least two cases, the drivers were instructed to stop on the side of the road, at a gas station or parking lot. The covers of the cargo containers were then activated, flipped open and more than two dozen drones came flying out. The unsuspecting Russian drivers got to watch the drones fly off.9 The roof panels of the truck’s cargo containers were seen lying on the ground next to the truck.10

It was later stated that each of the drivers left Chelyabinsk heading towards the designated airfield. Each driver was given a specific location where they were to arrive and deliver their house. Supposedly, a buyer was to come there, pay for the house, and pick it up.11 This would explain why if called by a stranger and asked to pull over at a gas station or near a coffee shop, the drivers would respond without suspicion.

Both Russia and Ukrainian social media provided confirmation of parts of this story. The Ukrainian SBU said this was all done remotely. It is more likely that there were SBU operators in the launch area to activate the opening devices on the cargo containers and to activate the drones.

This started the attack. It was done mid-morning. The photos show a daylight attack and doing it in the morning when most of the planes were still on the ground makes perfect sense. The drones then took off, hitting their targets maybe five minutes later. Any SBU operators were able to discretely leave the area.

The operators were probably a mix of SBU agents from Ukraine and local Russians of Ukrainian descent. They clearly could do this with small teams of two to six people. It would take five teams. It is claimed that theSBU had already withdrawn all of their people to Ukraine before the day was over.12 This is possible for the three bases that were near international borders. Two of these locales were far from the Ukrainian border, Dyagilevo and Ivanov Severny. Most likely these teams were in the area until the firing, so they could witness and confirm they had been launched and then took off to hide is a safe location inside of Russia. Some of these agents might still be in Russia now.

The SBU agents in Chelyabinsk supposedly left on Thursday, 29 May. The trucks reportedly departed Chelyabinsk on that day, and then the agents left under the pretense of going on vacation. Therefore, when the operation took place on Sunday morning, 1 June, the agents that were in Chelyabinsk were already back in Ukraine. The agents were back at their headquarters in Kyiv on Sunday and were able to monitor their drivers in phone conversations.13

新用户注册返回首页
首页上一页下一页尾页页次1/1 转到第页