Why FPV Drones Rule the Skies over Russia Thanks to Ukraine

Drone warfare

When the war in Ukraine kicked off, pretty much everyone, including me, thought Russia was going to roll over Ukraine and take it over before the world could act. And why wouldn’t we? Putin advertised a formidable military that was to be feared, not questioned. Well, I have questions. And Ukraine, well, they didn’t cower in the face of adversity. They got smart, revised tactics, and caught Russia sleeping. Now, drones rule the skies over the former Soviet Union and have kept Putin in check.

FPV Drones

FPV Drones, or First Person View Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, are no longer a figment of science fiction. They are fact, not fiction.

What was once an intelligence gathering platform turned itself into a weapon of war capable of dropping thousands of pounds of munitions from the heavens on unsuspecting terrorists. Before that, drones were merely backyard toys for hobbyists.

Now they have evolved into essential battlefield tools capable of dropping as little as a handheld grenade on an enemy sleeping in a foxhole.

Without them, one could argue that the war in Ukraine would have been over already. Putin and his army of Russian soldiers would have run through Ukraine without nearly as much pushback. But Ukraine’s ability to use drones has extended the war and left Putin on the sidelines with old tech, outdated strategies, and a reeling military that wasn’t as advertised.

The recent attack on Russia’s airfields by Ukraine in June of 2025 highlighted the importance of the use of FPV drones, and also proves that a country need not have a massive military to inflict serious damage. Drones damaged and/or disabled what some are reporting to be up to 40 aircraft in Russia’s bomber fleet. All executed over thousands of miles away.

Operation Spider Web

FPV drones from Ukraine struck deep into Siberia with the “Spider Web” operation. Belaya Air Base, to be exact, over 6,105 kilometers (3,794 miles) from Kyiv, Ukraine. That’s a long stretch for a drone to fly, but more on that later.

For example, Los Angeles, California, to Washington, D.C., is 2,668 miles. You would have to complete that trip and then turn around from Washington, D.C., and head back to LA, stopping in Kansas City, Missouri, to equal that same distance. And that was just one attack.

Ukraine managed to pull off several more in Olenya, Ivanovo, and Dyagilevo. The FPV drone security footage released showed planes on fire in the background, scorches on the pavement, and debris everywhere.

Olenya Air Base is a Russian Air Base in the north-west part of Russia, hosting Tu-95 strategic bombers as well as Tu-22M strategic bombers. Manufacturing of both bombers ended with the fall of the Soviet Union, so they aren’t exactly new platforms, but they are what Putin has (*had) at his disposal. The point is, they are all nuclear-capable or are being upgraded to be. The Tu-95 is a propeller-driven aircraft with swept wings and has multiple variants, but the “M” variant is receiving upgrades to radar, engines, and weapons points to carry cruise missiles.

Both platforms have seen operational and manufacturing troubles, including upgrades in recent years. But again, they are all that Putin has. US Intelligence reports low numbers of each aircraft, with Ukrainian intelligence doing the same. As low as 30 aircraft of each potentially still exist. The rest are scrapped, or in such poor condition that they aren’t operational due to lapses in maintenance.

Belaya, Ivanovo, and Dyagilevo Air Bases

Belaya Air Base in Irkutsk Oblast also had Tu-95s and 22s, both of which suffered unreported official damages. Ivanovo Air Base reportedly suffered damage to its A50-AWACS fleet, and Dyagilevo in the Ryazan region showed several Tu-22s being approached on security footage, although the extent of damage is still unknown.

So, how did Ukraine, a country with a very small military and an even smaller defense sector, manage such a devastating attack? They smuggled them in. We are talking about warfare beyond the scope of technology. A coordinated attack was planned over 18 months. This goes beyond the battlefield and behind the scenes with some very smart and crafty individuals.

If the reports are true, Ukraine didn’t just smuggle the drones in, they got Russia to stab themselves in the back by using contracted truck drivers to smuggle them in for them before launching the drones to attack the targets. That might seem like it’s a stretch, but it’s not. Truck drivers just looking for contracts to haul cargo are only concerned with getting paid. This was an astonishing feat of ingenuity.

The drones had been first smuggled into Russia, then secured inside wooden cabins mounted on the back of lorries, all of which were behind remotely operated and detachable roofs. The lorries were driven to the various air bases across Russia, with the drivers all unaware of their cargo. Some of them parked their lorries and left, shocked to see drones start to fly out of them.

What happened to those involved? Ukraine claims that all parties who aided them were “withdrawn from Russian territory…they are safe now.” Russian authorities are currently looking for people involved, with no reported arrests being made public.

This wasn’t the first attack on Russian strategic bombers. Ukraine has been successful before, as recently as March 2025, when a Ukrainian drone destroyed one Tu-22M3 as it landed, costing Russia a cool $100 million. The terrifying part about this newfound capability in warfare is that Ukraine has been using it for years now, since Russia invaded. Ukraine didn’t have the soldiers to go toe-to-toe with Russia, so they turned towards tech to make things happen and shift the scales.

Russian soldiers have died while sleeping in foxholes thanks to a drone dropping a grenade on them while they slept. Ukraine might not have soldiers, but they have innovative thinkers and people capable of piloting drones.

Ukrainian President Zelensky said that each of the 117 drones in the recent attacks on the Russian strategic bomber fleet had its own pilot. Ukraine not only pulled off one of the worst attacks in all of Europe since World War 2, but they also recruited, trained, and empowered 117 pilots to do it too.

Next up: Nuclear War?

Drone warfare has evolved a lot in the 20+ years of its existence. Now, it’s more than intelligence collecting. It’s a weapon that has become intimate and personal. Everyone from infantrymen to tank drivers to support personnel on the flight lines maintaining Russian bombers, became a target.

And this is just the Russia versus Ukraine war.

If drone warfare expanded to say, China versus Japan, or even North Korea versus South Korea, the conflicts could quickly become a “who’s who” of causing the most damage, potentially escalating to nuclear war before nuclear war can even be taken off the table.

Like the “experts” who claim marijuana is a “gateway drug”, is drone warfare the same? Will these kinds of attacks win Ukraine the war, or just push the conflict towards nuclear options? Many more attacks like this could back Putin into a corner that he can’t get out of without swinging the nuclear baseball bat and launching nuclear warhead-capped cruise missiles, something we haven’t seen done in decades.

What do you think? Are we closer to nuclear war than ever before? Drop a comment below.