Start of Operation "Web" was postponed due to drunk truck drivers, - WSJ
Operation "Spider Web," which took about 18 months to prepare, was initially planned to begin on May 9. However, the plan was postponed because some of the truck drivers transporting drones were intoxicated after the long holidays.
This is reported by the Wall Street Journal, as relayed by Censor.NET.
According to the publication, everything necessary for the operation was ready at the end of April. As a result, trucks with drones departed only on May 23-26, and the drivers did not know what they were transporting.
On the eve of the launch, the operation nearly failed: while in transit, the sliding roof of one of the trucks came off, and the driver, while attempting to repair it, noticed the drones inside. He called the operation coordinator, Artem Timofeev, after which the SSU told the driver that the drones were intended for tracking animals in hunting grounds. The driver believed this version and did not pay attention to the explosives.
On June 1, when the operation began, new problems arose: one of the trucks lost contact with the control room. The SSU instructed the driver on how to fix the problem, but he stopped responding. Later, photos of the dead driver and the burned truck appeared online.
According to the WSJ, the coordinator of "Web" was 37-year-old former DJ Artem Timofeev, who had been living in Chelyabinsk since 2018. His wife, Katerina, a tattoo artist, also participated in the preparations. Both were polygraphed by the SSU, and they assembled the drones themselves according to instructions from Ukrainian specialists.
SSU Special Operation "Web"
- On June 1, the Security Service of Ukraine carried out a special operation called "Pavutyna" (Web), launching a massive drone strike on Russian strategic aviation airfields.
- The airfields of Olenya, Belaya, Dyagilevo, and Ivanovo were attacked. Forty-one Russian aircraft were destroyed, including A-50, Tu-95, and Tu-22 M3.
- Later, the SBU clarified that the estimated cost of the enemy's strategic aviation, which was destroyed as a result of the SSU's special operation "Pavutina" (Web), is US$7 billion.
- President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy heard a report from the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Maliuk, on Operation Spider Web.
- On June 3, the General Staff clarified that as a result of a special operation conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine on June 1, 2025, 41 Russian military aircraft were destroyed.
- A number of media outlets also reported that Ukraine did not inform the administration of US President Donald Trump in advance about the SSU's special operation "Pavutyna" (Web) targeting Russian airfields with strategic bombers.
