Ukraine's Mission Possible

Twelve world changing, epic take-aways from "Operation Spider's Web."

In the waning hours of my birthday last night, May 31, 2025, I sat in a midnight theater watching the Mission Impossible team once again save the world.

There was a special joy for me in watching the fictional Russian submarine Sevastopol demilitarized and left as wreckage deep beneath the Arctic in the latest installment of Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible franchise - The Final Reckoning.

Less than two years earlier, I had sat in the same theater with my friends—officers of the Ukrainian military—as we watched Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning , which first introduced viewers to the sinking of the Sevastopol. Back in the real world, that same month in 2023, the Ukrainian military had just seriously damaged the Rostov-on-Don, a Kilo-class Russian submarine of the Black Sea Fleet, based in occupied Sevastopol. The irony was not lost on any of us.

Leaving the theater in the early morning hours of June 1, 2025, I thought of my son and his work on the Ukrainian front lines this week, under Russian bombs in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. I thought of my friend Pasha Ivanov, the F-16 pilot awarded the title Hero of Ukraine, who died defending the skies of Ukraine during the weekend of the Russian Palm Sunday civilian massacre and warcrimes. I thought of my own beloved country, the United States, struggling with a soul-crushing identity crisis—are we still advocates for freedom, or something far darker and more transactional? Do we still believe in “the free world”?

But nothing I witnessed on the big screen from Tom Cruise and his IMF agents compared to the real-world events unfolding in Russia around the same time the credits were rolling.

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The Greatest Special Ops in Modern History

Early on the morning of June 1, 2025, Ukraine conducted the single greatest clandestine special operation since the Second World War.

“Operation Spider’s Web" was prepared under top secrecy for 1.5 years. It was executed in plain daylight with precision and great success, resulting in the demilitarization by Ukraine special services of Russian tools of murder - The airborne vehicles used to transport nuclear weapons, and to murder children, destroy families and level cities.

Ukraine’s elite SSO likely executed or coordinated elements of the operation in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and GUR. Their role would include placing drones inside Russia, gathering real-time targeting intelligence, and guiding attacks.

“We spent over a year and a half preparing this operation. Our “office” in Russia was set up right next to a regional office of the Federal Security Service (FSB). 117 drones were used, striking 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers at their airbases” — Zelenskyy

The drones were concealed inside tractor trailers parked openly along Russian highways, with Russian cars speeding by just hundreds of meters from the targeted military airbases. These FPV drones had been secretly stored within small houses inside Russia for some time, patiently awaiting their moment to strike. Once launched, they zeroed in on the fuel tanks of military aircraft, triggering devastating chain reactions and massive explosions.

The timing of the attack was symbolic — it took place on the anniversary of Ukraine’s decision to hand over many of these very bombers, now demilitarized, to Russia under the U.S.-brokered Budapest Memorandum, in which Russia solemnly pledged to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Here is the Accounting

Locations of 5 Russian airfare bases hit by Ukraine as part of Operation Spiderweb on June 1, 2025

1. Pennies for Billions: 117 drones with a combined value of under a million dollars demilitarized 43% of Russian strategic aviation worth more than 7 billion dollars.

2. Zero Civilian Casualties - Based on available reports, there are no confirmed civilian casualties resulting from Operation Spider’s Web. The operation was meticulously planned to minimize collateral damage.

3. Military Casualties - There are no known Ukrainian o Russian military captured, wounded or killed.

4. Unprecedented Destruction of Russian Strategic Aircraft. Ukraine used Russia’s own telcos for communication to destroy or disable 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet. According to Ukrainian officials, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) executed the operation, targeting five Russian airbases and damaging or destroying over 40 aircraft. This operation represents a significant blow to Russia's long-range strike capabilities, as many of the affected bombers are irreplaceable due to discontinued production.

5. Strikezone depth. Operation Spider Web struck deep inside Russia. Attacks were launched in multiple time zones across 5 Russian regions: Murmansk, above the Arctic Circle, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur, which is 5,000 miles from Ukraine. One strike was 4500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

   

   If you have ever played Risk and captured Irkutsk, you know the location of one of Ukraine’s successful deep strike.

   CNN reported today:

“The airfields targeted included Belaya in Irkutsk, some 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) from Ukraine’s border with Russia, and the Dyagilevo base in Ryazan in western Russia, about 520 kilometers (320 miles) from Ukraine, which is a training center for Russia’s strategic bomber force.

The Olenya base near Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Ukraine, was also struck, according to the source, as well as the Ivanovo air base, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Ukraine. Ivanovo is a base for Russian military transport aircraft.” Svitlana Vlasova for CNN

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12 Take Aways of this Historic Moment

I. The Biggest Russian Surprise Loss Since 1941

June 1, 2025, was the greatest humiliation and single-day loss for Russia since Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa against Stalin in 1941. The June 1, 2025 drone special operation was catastrophic, revelatory, and deeply humiliating to the war criminals in the Kremlin.

Given its depth, precision, and the significant degradation of Russia's strategic air capabilities, Operation Spider’s Web is widely regarded as the most consequential special operation against Russia since the Second World War. It not only showcased Ukraine's advanced operational capabilities but also delivered a substantial psychological blow to Russian military morale. It will be studied as the gold standard for decisive long range covert operations for years.

II. Putin Refused the Ceasefire—and Lost His Air Force

.After four months of appeasement and concessions by the Trump Administration, the Kremlin grew increasingly obstinate in its war crimes and its pursuit of integrating all of Ukraine into Russia through conquest. With no genuine interest in peace—but every interest in manipulating President Trump—each step of the ill-conceived peace process served as a delay tactic for Putin: a means to concentrate forces, seize additional territory, and inflict greater harm on the Ukrainian people.

With the United States so far unwilling to hold Russia accountable—and with the White House offering what amounts to de facto absolution for war crimes—Putin’s aggression has predictably intensified. When pressed by Ukraine, Europe, and, briefly, the United States to accept a comprehensive ceasefire, Russia repeatedly refused. On June 1, they paid an extraordinary price for their arrogance, obstinacy and evil intentions. Had Putin agreed to the ceasefire, he would still have his strategic aviation fleet intact

III. Ukraine Special Ops Now the World’s Greatest

The Ukrainian SBU has now surpassed Mossad as the premier covert operation capable of their own "mission impossible." DW Phillips

Operation Spiderweb marks a watershed moment in modern intelligence and special operations, firmly establishing Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) as a global powerhouse in covert capabilities. Far from playing catch-up, the SBU has now surpassed even the most elite agencies—Mossad, the FSB, the CIA, and other special operations forces—in executing high-risk, precision missions that once seemed the stuff of fiction. With a combination of cutting-edge intelligence, audacious planning, and relentless execution, the SBU has proven itself capable of its own “Mission Impossible” style operations, reshaping the global espionage landscape and redefining what a highly motivated, mid-sized intelligence service can achieve under extreme pressure.

Ukraine is now the leader of the Free World in FVP warfare. They have more hands on experience and combat knowledge than the United States military. As to the future - and the radical transformation of asymmetrical warfare, America now needs Ukraine’s knowledge and experience.