Inside the Ukrainian drone operation that devastated Russia's bomber fleet

Ukraine said it damaged 41 warplanes valued at $7 billion at four bases using drones that cost about $2,000 each

- James Marson, Jane Lytvynenko, Brenna T. Smith & Serhii Bosak

Ukraine's spectacular drone attack on Russia's strategic bomber fleet on Sunday began with a daunting request from Ukraine's president to his spy chief in late fall 2023.

The Russian Air Force was pummeling Ukraine's power stations and cities with missiles, overwhelming meager air defenses, and Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to know: How can we fight back?

Lt. Gen. Vasyl Maliuk, a 42-year-old career security officer with broad shoulders and a stern mien, has earned a reputation for innovative operations with explosive naval and aerial drones that forced Russia to withdraw much of its Black Sea Fleet from its base in occupied Crimea and damaged dozens of oil plants and military-production facilities deep inside Russia.

But the task was formidable. The strategic bombers that launched many of Russia's most powerful missiles operate from beyond the range of Ukraine's air-defense systems, and were based at airfields across the country as much as 3,000 miles from Ukraine. Ukraine's SBU security service, which Maliuk heads, has deployed long-range aerial drones effectively, but they are vulnerable to Russian air defenses, including missile interceptors and jammers.

What Maliuk and his team came up with shocked the world Sunday with its audacity. The agency smuggled Ukrainian drone parts into Russia and assembled them at a secret location. SBU operatives inside Russia used unwitting truck drivers to deliver a modern version of the Trojan horse by concealing the drones in the roofs of wooden containers. On Sunday, the roofs—activated remotely—slid open on trucks close to the Russian air bases, releasing dozens of drones and adding a dash of Transformers to old-school spycraft.

More than 100 quadcopters—small drones with four rotors—emerged and zipped toward their targets, some descending through smoke billowing from already-damaged aircraft.