Moscow court has released four drivers implicated in ’Spider’s Web’ case due to insufficient evidence
On 16 September, the Moscow City Court released four drivers from custody who had been accused by the Russian investigators of involvement in the SBU’s ‘Pavutina’ operation. The court refused to extend their detention, whilst the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had previously referred the case back for further investigation due to insufficient evidence.
According to Censor.NET, Radio Free Europe reports this.
The drivers were accused of conspiring with the SSU and transporting Ukrainian drones, which later attacked military airfields, deep into Russia in their vehicles. The court deemed the evidence of their involvement insufficient.
The drivers claimed they were unaware that drones had been hidden amongst the cargo
The drivers denied any wrongdoing. They claim that they were on a routine journey and knew nothing about the drones hidden in the cargo. Once the UAVs began to fly out of the lorries’ cargo holds, they called the police themselves and tried to shoot the drones down.
The Russian Federation’s Prosecutor General’s Office has found no direct evidence of the drivers’ guilt
Russia’s Investigative Committee has concluded its investigation into Operation ‘Spider’s Web’ and has referred the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
At the same time, a motion was submitted to the court to extend the period of detention for the lorry drivers.
However, First Deputy Prosecutor General Anton Razinkin did not approve the charges, stating that there was no direct evidence of the drivers’ guilt and that the circumstantial evidence was insufficient, and he referred the case back for further investigation.
The court, having rejected the prosecution’s application, ordered the drivers to be released.
SSU Special Operation ‘Spider’s Web’
- On 1 June 2025, the Security Service of Ukraine carried out the ‘Spider’s Web’ special operation, launching a massive drone strike on Russian strategic air bases.
- The SSU later clarified that the estimated value of the enemy’s strategic aviation, which was destroyed as a result of the SSU’s ‘Spider’s Web’ special operation, amounts to 7 billion US dollars.
- On 3 June, the General Staff clarified that, as a result of a special operation carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine on 1 June 2025, 41 Russian military aircraft were destroyed.
- A number of media outlets also reported that Ukraine had not informed in advance the administration of US President Donald Trump about the SSU’s ‘Spider’s Web’ special operation targeting Russian airfields housing strategic bombers.
- According to information from the Telegram channel Shot, four lorry drivers were detained following the SSU’s attack on Russian airfields. In the Ryazan region, the lorry was being driven by 47-year-old Sergei Kanurin; in the Murmansk region, by 56-year-old Alexander Zaitsev; and in the Irkutsk region, by 62-year-old Andrei Merkuriev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Russian lorry drivers were unaware of Operation ‘Spider’s Web’.
