Russia downplays Ukrainian drone strike, claims no aircraft destroyed

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has stated that no Russian aircraft were destroyed during Ukraine’s drone offensive on 1 June. Instead, the aircraft were damaged and will undergo repairs, he told TASS in an interview, downplaying the strategic impact of the attack.

“The equipment in question, as stated by the Ministry of Defence, was not destroyed but damaged. It will be repaired,” Ryabkov said when asked whether the strike might alter the strategic military balance.

He suggested observers draw their own conclusions, adding that “the nomenclature we are talking about now is not necessarily fully covered by certain agreements.” Ryabkov also reminded that Russia has suspended its participation in the New START Treaty on strategic offensive arms.

He sharply criticised Kyiv’s claims about the success of the strike, calling them grossly exaggerated. “There is nothing even close to that,” he said. “We must follow the data and information disseminated through the channels of the Russian Ministry of Defence.”

The remarks come after Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) carried out what it called the most sophisticated long-range drone strike since the start of the full-scale war. The operation, code-named “Spider’s Web,” targeted five major Russian military airfields — Belaya, Dyagilevo, Ivanovo Severny, Olenya, and Ukrainka — with a fleet of 117 drones that had been hidden in wooden sheds transported by trucks.

The drones, concealed for months and launched remotely, struck a range of strategic aircraft, including Tu-95, Tu-22M3, Tu-160 bombers, and an A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft. The SBU claimed the operation took 18 months to plan and execute.

According to Ukrainian reports, 41 long-range bombers were damaged in the attack, representing about 34% of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet. Ukrainian officials also estimate that the strike inflicted roughly $7 billion in damage.

Notably, the Belaya Airbase in Irkutsk Oblast, located over 4,300 kilometres from Ukrainian territory, was among the targets, marking the furthest a Ukrainian drone strike has reached inside Russia to date.

By Tamilla Hasanova