These aircraft rained death on Ukrainian cities — now they’re burning on their own airfields. On 1 June, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) carried out a stunning special operation dubbed “Spiderweb,” destroying or disabling at least 41 Russian aircraft involved in massive airstrikes against Ukraine.

“There are aircraft that were burned, and others damaged beyond repair. For a long time, they won’t be able to carry out terrorist acts,” said Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat.

Since 2022, the Russians have launched 2,437 Kh-101, Kh-555, and Kh-55 cruise missiles from these bombers, of which 1,916 were intercepted. However, more than 500 reached their targets.

“Russia also used Tu-22M3 bombers with Kh-22 and Kh-32 missiles. The Kh-22 is known as an ‘aircraft carrier killer’… the enemy used them to strike major cities. There were many casualties,” Ihnat adds. 

Russia has also launched over 400 Kh-22 missiles, and only a few were intercepted by air defenses. The missile carries a warhead weighing over 900 kg and is among the most powerful in Russia’s arsenal.

For instance, in 2025, Russia killed 14 civilians, including two children, with such missiles, demolishing a five-storey residential building in Poltava. No military targets were located in the area. 

In 2024, a missile of the same type broke a huge hole in the residential building in Dnipro, ruining a driveway and killing almost every civilian in it. 

Ukraine’s air defense downed 25 out of 38 Russian missiles during massive attack

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked SBU Chief Vasyl Maliuk for the operation’s results. He noted that the SBU’s operational office in Russian territory was located right next to a regional FSB headquarters. In total, 117 drones were used in the operation.