Agents scrutinized a storage facility in Chelyabinsk, where crates full of first-person view drones were accumulated.
Adding Flavor to the Drone Saga: Warehouse Lessors in Crosshairs over Siberian Airbase Assaults
In a surprising twist, the lessors of a warehouse allegedly used for assembling FPV drones involved in attacks on Russian military airbases have been detained. As per "Gazeta.ru", a popular Russian news outlet, which cited several posts on Telegram's Mash channel, the warehouse is currently bare, but experts are on-site taking soil samples for traces of explosives.
The apprehended individuals, as reported by Mash, may be linked to the logistics networks enabling recent drone attacks, including those in Siberia. The warehouse reportedly cost 350,000 rubles a month to rent, according to blogger Sergei Kolyasnikov.
The Spider's Web: Operation "Spider Web" and Airbase Attacks
On June 1, Ukraine launched a large-scale operation "Spider Web," aiming five Russian military airbases in Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Rяazan, and Amur regions. This was the first attack on Siberia since the conflict began.
The operation was carried out over a prolonged period of more than a year and a half. It involved some 117 FPV drones, which were secretly brought into Russia and stashed in camouflaged hiding spots. The drones were triggered remotely, with strategic targets including Tupolev Tu-95 bombers and A-50 long-range aircraft.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the attacks, reporting fires in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, but no casualties. Attacks on other airbases were thwarted. The ministry also announced the arrest of some operation participants.
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Behind the Curtains: Operation Spider Web and FPV Drones
Although no conclusive evidence shows that the detained warehouse lessors were directly connected to the FPV drone attacks or Operation Spider Web, the hidden transport of drones was essential for the operation's success. Ukrainian forces employed obscure cargo containers disguised as standard commercial shipments to smuggle drones deep into Russian territory, concealed within wooden boxes on the backs of trucks. These containers were opened remotely to launch the drones.
The sources hint at the possibility that unwitting Russian drivers or lessors might have unknowingly played a part in the covert operation. However, the focus of Operation Spider Web was on the audacious use of covertly smuggled drones to strike deep inside Russia, not on personnel detentions.
- The ongoing investigation into the detained warehouse lessors might uncover links between them and the logistics networks supporting Operation "Spider Web," a covert operation involving the use of FPV drones in war-and-conflicts against Russian military airbases.
- As politics and general-news continue to unfold around Operation Spider Web, it has been revealed that the transport of FPV drones used in this operation was obscured with camouflage, implicating crime-and-justice issues in the chain of shipping, including unwitting Russian drivers or lessors who may have unwittingly played a part in the covert operation.
