A screenshot of satellite imagery shared by AviVector indicates that one of Russia's Tu-160 long-range bombers arrived at the Anadyr air base on June 4. Screenshot: AviVector (X)
One of the Tu-160 strategic long-range bombers previously stationed at Russia’s Belaya air base has been relocated to the Anadyr airbase in Chukotka following a behind-the-lines Ukrainian drone strike carried out as part of Operation Spiderweb. The report was originally shared by the Ukrainian open source intelligence (OSINT) project AviVector on X (formerly Twitter).
According to AviVector, Russia dispersed its fleet of Tu-160 bombers across multiple locations after the attack. One of the aircraft arrived at the Anadyr airbase from Belaya at 23:59 UTC on June 4. The base is located on the Yakutia Peninsula — roughly 6,750 kilometers (close to 4,200 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border and 660 kilometers (410 miles) from the border with the United States.
The Tu-160's former base, Belaya, is itself located in the Irkutsk Region in southeastern Siberia — over 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) from Ukraine.
On June 1, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) launched an unprecedented operation, dubbed Operation Spiderweb, simultaneously targeting five Russian airfields located deep inside the country with drones concealed in wooden mobile homes transported by trucks. The roofs of the mobile homes were remotely opened when the trucks came to a stop, allowing the drones to launch toward the airfields.
The SBU has claimed that the attack destroyed 41 strategic aircraft, although recent reviews of satellite imagery by OSINT analysts indicate that as many as 23 strategic bombers could have been damaged in the operation.