Air War in Ukraine - Russian Airfields in Flames

The very first day of the observed period began with the largest Ukrainian attack on Russian military airfields since the start of the war. Between June 1 and June 30, several additional smaller successful attacks occurred. In total, dozens of aircraft were destroyed, including strategic bombers, making June 2025 arguably the worst month for Russian aviation since the end of World War II. During this period, the Ukrainian Air Force lost only one aircraft—a highly valuable F-16, along with its pilot.

Miro Barič

Russian Airfields in Flames

The very first day of the observed period began with the largest Ukrainian

attack on Russian military airfields since the start of the war. Between

June 1 and June 30, several additional smaller successful attacks occurred.

In total, dozens of aircraft were destroyed, including strategic bombers,

making June 2025 arguably the worst month for Russian aviation since the

end of World War II. During this period, the Ukrainian Air Force lost only one

aircraft—a highly valuable F-16, along with its pilot.

Aerial War in Ukraine

Operation Spiderweb:

Months in the Making

Let’s rewind a few months. On February

28, a notorious confrontation occurred

at the White House where U.S. President

Donald Trump and especially his Vice

President, J.D. Vance, publicly lashed

out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr

Zelenskyy. Among other things, they

bluntly claimed he held no cards in the

ongoing war. Zelenskyy had to control

himself—because he did have at least one

ace up his sleeve.

Operation Spiderweb, a strike on

Russian strategic bomber bases far from

the front lines, had been in preparation for

over 18 months. Only five to seven people

knew about it, and due to prior information

leaks, not even the U.S. or other Western

allies were informed. The operation was

personally directed by the head of the

Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), Vasyl

Maliuk.

Drone components were first smuggled

into Russia and later assembled in

a warehouse in Chelyabinsk, 150 km north

of the Kazakhstan border. These were

Satellite image by Planet Labs showing destroyed bombers at Belaya.

UKRAINE

INFO Eduard24

August 2025