JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Ukraine has carried out many highly creative drone attacks against Russia throughout the course of the war, and now they've taken it to a whole new level. Over the weekend, Ukrainian drones destroyed some of Russia's most valuable warplanes parked at military bases deep inside Russia. For more, we are joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre, who has reported extensively on the war. Hi there.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: Greg, I have to say, these attacks were quite stunning. So tell us - how did Ukraine pull this off?
MYRE: Yeah. Ukraine says civilian trucks were secretly driven deep into Russia and then parked just a few miles from these Russian military bases. The attacks were then launched remotely, allowing the hidden drones to fly out of the trucks and strike some of Russia's most valuable heavy bombers that were just parked out in the open at the bases. Now, Ukraine says it hit more than 40 Russian planes at bases from the Arctic Circle in the north to deep inside Siberia in the eastern part of Russia, more than 2,500 miles from Ukraine's border. Russia has acknowledged five bases were targeted, but has downplayed the damage and not offered details.
SUMMERS: Wow. Have we ever seen anything like this before?
MYRE: A short answer is no. I mean, Ukraine is officially calling this Operation Spider's Web. Some Ukrainians on social media are calling it Operation Trojan Trucks, so perhaps there's some ancient precedent here. Nothing like this in modern warfare. Here's Kelly Grieco at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington.
KELLY GRIECO: The Russians are always sort of playing catch-up, and that the Ukrainians are the one innovating first and trying these sort of daring creative attacks, and then the Russians are left scrambling to figure out how to defend against it, prevent another one.
SUMMERS: Drone warfare is now central to both the Ukrainian and Russian military, so describe what this fight might look like on a typical day.
MYRE: Yeah, Juana, we're now regularly seeing nights where - most attacks are at night - where both sides launch upwards of a hundred drones at each other. Russia fired 472 drones a couple nights ago - the most ever by either side. Ukraine shoots down or electronically jams most of these Russian drones, but, you know, even if 10% get through, they can cause a lot of damage. Russia is really looking in many ways to overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses with drones, and this clears the way sometimes for a more powerful Russian missile, which usually follows. Ukraine tends to use its drones in two ways - one, against Russian troops on the front lines, and second, longer-range attacks which can be hundreds of miles inside Russia.
SUMMERS: I mean, both countries have developed drone capabilities quite rapidly. Let's start off with Ukraine. How are they doing it?
MYRE: Well, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion three years ago, Ukrainians began buying cheap Chinese civilian drones - like a thousand dollars or less - and attaching grenades to drop on Russian positions. This proved extremely effective, and Ukraine soon began making their own. Many hundreds of private companies are now making them. Ukraine made more than 2 million drones last year, plans to make more than 4 million this year.
SUMMERS: And quickly, Greg, what about Russia?
MYRE: Well, Russia is not as innovative. It was buying drones from Iran. Now it's bought that technology from Iran, making its own. The quality isn't great, but they do make a lot of them.
SUMMERS: NPR's Greg Myre, thanks.
MYRE: Sure thing. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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