How hungover Russians thwarted Ukraine’s ‘Pearl Harbour’-style attack on Moscow
Ukraine’s daring “Pearl Harbor”-style strike on Moscow’s bomber fleet was partially unravelled by a most unlikely rabble of opponents.
Ukraine’s daring “Pearl Harbour”-style strike on Moscow’s bomber fleet was partially unravelled by a most unlikely rabble of opponents — scores of hungover Russian truck drivers.
According to a new Wall Street Journal report, Kyiv’s Security Service (SBU) had quietly manoeuvred dozens of drones deep into Russian territory this past spring, positioning itself for an audacious attack meant to coincide with Russian Victory Day on May 9.
The timing was deliberate, with Ukrainian officials hoping for a symbolic humiliation for the Kremlin.
But the plan collided headfirst with the realities of Russia’s holiday season. Victory Day festivities, Labour Day, and Orthodox Easter created an unexpected logistical crisis.
Almost no sober drivers were available to unwittingly transport the drones hidden inside wooden “cabins.”
Operation Spider’s Web depended on these unsuspecting truckers, who believed they were simply hauling small mobile structures. But as SBU officials told the WSJ, the holiday left “a small pool of drivers to choose from,” and many were off recovering from celebrations.
With reliability too shaky to risk exposure, Kyiv postponed the mission until late May, when its agents finally secured the right drivers for the covert, days-long journey.
The strike was ultimately carried out on July 1, and the results were staggering: 41 Russian bombers were damaged or destroyed across multiple airfields.
But the hangovers were only the beginning.
During one delivery run inside Russia, a trucker noticed that the top of one cabin had shifted — revealing the hidden drones.
Alarmed, the man phoned his employer, Artem Timofeev, a 37-year-old former Ukrainian DJ living in Russia. Timofeev and his wife, an erotic novelist, had been recruited to assemble the cabins and drones.
Coached by the SBU, Timofeev pretended to know nothing, assuring the driver that the equipment was meant “for hunting”.
The explanation worked with the trucker replacing the roof and continuing on his way.
At another point, Kyiv lost connection with two drone-loaded cabins due to patchy communications and had to guide a driver through troubleshooting without revealing what he was actually handling.
The situation took a darker turn when that same driver stopped answering calls.
Ukrainian officials feared the mission had been blown. Only later did online photos and reports confirm the cargo had caught fire, detonating the drones and killing the driver.
Even with the setbacks — the drunken-driver shortage, the accidental drone discovery, the mechanical failures, and the fatal fire — Kyiv ultimately deemed Operation Spider’s Web a success.
In one co-ordinated strike, Ukrainian drones hit four Russian airfields thousands of miles beyond the front lines, inflicting some of the most significant damage to Russia’s bomber fleet since the start of the war.
Originally published as How hungover Russians thwarted Ukraine’s ‘Pearl Harbour’-style attack on Moscow
