Russia overloads bombers in response to Spider’s Web strikes — military expert explains shift

Serhiy Zgurets, a military expert and CEO of the media and consulting company Defense Express, said this on Espreso TV.

"The enemy used 452 air attack weapons — including cruise missiles, Shahed drones, other types of drones, and ballistic missiles. I believe our (Ukrainian - ed.) air defense forces did everything they could and completed their mission. It’s also important to note that Russia claimed this strike was a response to Operation Spider’s Web," he said.

Zgurets added that Russia now seems eager to prove it still has enough aircraft to strike Ukraine.

“An interesting detail is that Russia used Kh-101 missiles and Tu-160 aircraft — which hadn’t been used in a long time — as bombers, along with Tu-95 planes. In total, they used seven aircraft to launch 36 cruise missiles. In the past, bombers carried only one or two missiles, but now each one had five or six. This shows that Russia has a limited number of launch platforms and is pushing them to their limits to show off its remaining military power, which continues to shrink thanks to operations like Spider’s Web,” the expert said.

He also pointed out that strengthening Ukraine’s air defense is a long-standing and systemic issue.

"On one hand, we keep telling our partners we need more systems, but they say the supply is limited. On the other hand, I know we’ve tested new air defense models. I hope these will soon go into mass production — and that funding will be found. These threats should push both our partners and our defense industry to start producing new systems on a larger scale. We have the potential to do it," Zgurets concluded.

• On the evening of Thursday, June 5, the Russian army launched strike drones and ballistic missiles at Ukraine. By early morning on June 6, reports also confirmed the use of cruise missiles.