Authorities in eastern Siberia’s Irkutsk region said Monday that they will reward a group of civilians who were filmed trying to stop Ukrainian drones during the previous day’s attack on a nearby military airbase.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that “several aircraft caught fire” Sunday following drone attacks on the Belaya airbase in Irkutsk, more than 4,000 kilometers (2,700 miles) from Ukraine’s border, and on the Olenya airbase in the northwestern Murmansk region.
Airbases in the Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions were also targeted, military officials said.
Irkutsk region Governor Igor Kobzev said it was the “first attack of this sort in Siberia,” part of a coordinated operation dubbed “Spider’s Web” by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it the country’s “most long-range operation” since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
Kobzev said the regional emergency response center had reviewed social media videos showing “concerned citizens who tried to interfere with the drones’ operation,” adding that authorities would “assess their actions and decide on the reward.”
Eyewitness video showed men throwing rocks to two others on the roof of a parked cargo truck, which was used as a launchpad for the drones. “Everyone in this parking lot helped out,” one man said. “We tossed rocks to try to prevent them from flying.”
An SBU source told Ukrainian media that the trucks were fitted with wooden structures whose roofs opened remotely to launch the drones. Photos shared by the SBU showed dozens of drones stored in cargo containers.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the drones were launched “in the immediate vicinity of the airbases,” not from Ukrainian territory.
Governors of nearby regions including Buryatia, Tyva and Novosibirsk said they had stepped up security measures following the strikes in the Irkutsk region and other parts of Russia over the weekend.
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