June 24, 2025 - 11:45am
In November 2023, as Russia incessantly shelled Ukrainian cities, Kyiv decided that it needed to destroy Moscow’s missile carriers. The result, Operation Spider’s Web, came to fruition earlier this month, some 18 months after it was first conceived.
The shock assault on Russia’s strategic bombing fleet hit 41 aircraft and involved bribing Russian customs agents, smuggling drones laden with explosives, and keeping top government officials in the dark. Given the audacious nature of the plot, one wonders what else Ukraine’s military has been mulling over in that time.
If former TV producer-turned-top Zelensky aide Andriy Yermak is to be believed, there will be more to come. This week, Yermak promised more such “surprises” for Russia, pledging that “every Russian must feel what it is like to be in constant danger.” This zeal for surprise strikes is understandable, with Ukraine having strong motives to launch other ambush assaults. The operation demonstrated that Ukraine’s web could cover much more of Russia than previously thought.
Audacious raids grab headlines around the world at a time when Ukraine is battling against the Middle East for newspaper front pages. Successful attacks are something for Ukraine’s beleaguered population to rally around, and Kyiv immediately released footage of the meticulously recorded implementation of Spider’s Web. It shows that Ukraine is not only still in the fight against Russia but actually taking the initiative, with “cards” still to play, no matter what Donald Trump may have suggested. Operations like this are a way to make Vladimir Putin look vulnerable in the eyes of a US President who detests what he perceives to be weakness.
Yet such operations hold battlefield ramifications as well. Kyiv is trying to capitalise on stalled Russian gains. High-level Ukrainian fighters insist not only that the war can still be won, but that asymmetrical methods will be a key facet, the Georgian Legion’s Mamuka Mamulashvili recently claiming that 2,000 strikes could wipe out Russia’s logistics chains.
Ukrainian intelligence sources claim that more operations are being prepared, encouraged by competition between the rival Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). These agencies have different tactics and their rivalry has been compared to that of the FBI and the CIA. Likely targets include the Kerch Bridge, military-industrial complexes, airfields, and command and control posts. Meanwhile, Ukraine has also been interrupting the activities of Russian mercenaries in Africa and weapons shipments to Moscow. Kyiv is eager to show its reach across Russia, a May GUR attack on an army base near Vladivostok constituting the most distant target yet in the war. More targeted killings, sabotage operations and strikes on countries furnishing arms to Russia are probable, along with sea operations. At one stage, Ukraine considered placing sea drones in cargo containers to hit Russian ships in the North Pacific.
While Ukrainian covert operations have sparked tension with the White House in the past, even during Joe Biden’s presidency, Israel’s recent strikes on Iran have shown how an initially reluctant Trump can be persuaded to support assaults once he has seen that they are successful. Ukraine’s Spider’s Web could catch many more Russian flies.
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