Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on 13 July that it had thwarted a large-scale Ukrainian attempt to attack two military air bases deep inside Russian territory using FPV drones. The targets were the Ukrainka base in the Amur region of the Far East and the Shagol base in the Chelyabinsk region of the Urals. The FSB said it seized 24 drones equipped with AI-based guidance modules and explosive charges, and arrested several individuals it described as perpetrators and accomplices.

According to the FSB statement, Ukrainian special services, with the direct participation of Western handlers, used fixed-wing drones and balloons to drop containers of FPV drones into the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine. The drones were then transported in cars with hidden compartments to rented garages near the airfields, where they were assembled and prepared for launch. The FSB claimed that the entire operation was conducted under its “dense operational control” and documented. A Russian State Duma defence committee member, Andrei Kolesnik, described the plot as an attempt to repeat the June 2025 “Spider Web” operation, in which Ukrainian intelligence used trucks to launch drones against airfields in several Russian regions, damaging aircraft. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the latest allegations. However, Kyiv’s SBU security service previously acknowledged the “Spider Web” operation, and Western governments have not publicly addressed the FSB’s specific claims, though Moscow has repeatedly accused them of enabling long-range strikes on Russian soil.

The FSB’s disclosure highlights the expanding geography of Ukraine’s drone campaign, which now regularly targets military infrastructure thousands of kilometres from the front line. The seized drones, according to the FSB, carried neural-network control modules manufactured in Britain, the United States, Canada and Sweden, and were designed to resist electronic warfare systems. The use of balloons and civilian vehicles with concealed compartments mirrors the logistics of the earlier “Spider Web” attack, suggesting a sustained effort to bypass Russian air defences and border controls. The FSB also said it recovered two ground control stations with self-destruct mechanisms, indicating an attempt to erase evidence. The agency’s reminder that voluntary abandonment of a crime exempts a person from liability appears aimed at discouraging recruitment by Ukrainian services.

The foiled plot is the latest in a series of FSB announcements this month, including the prevention of an attack on the Rostov-Centralny airfield and alleged assassination attempts against senior defence officials in the Moscow region. The FSB has opened a criminal case, and the arrested individuals face terrorism charges. The Kremlin has not yet issued a separate statement, but the incident is expected to reinforce Moscow’s narrative that the conflict has become a “war” due to Western support for Kyiv, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated last week. The investigation continues, and no further operational details have been released.