The Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia reported on Monday that it had seized Western-manufactured, AI-powered FPV drones that were allegedly released over Russian territory by larger Ukrainian fixed-wing drones and balloons. According to the FSB, the smaller drones initially landed in the Bryansk region near the Ukrainian border and were subsequently moved inside trailers with false bottoms and loaded with household appliances across Russia to the Chelyabinsk region in the Ural Mountains and to the Amur region in the Far East.
Authorities said the devices were intended for strikes against the Shagol and Ukrainka air bases in those regions and that the individuals involved in the operation had been detained. The FSB stated the drones were produced in the United States, Britain, Canada and Sweden, each carrying more than 1 kg of explosives and equipped with AI navigation systems designed to evade Russian jamming.
Russian officials drew a parallel between the foiled plot and an earlier 2025 operation that targeted military air bases under a campaign referred to as "Spider’s Web", in which about 20 aircraft were damaged. The 2025 incident reportedly included attacks on the Ukrainka base and made use of trucks transporting wooden sheds with retractable roofs to move drones closer to their targets.
The FSB account situates the discovery amid a period of intensified long-range actions that Russia attributes to Ukraine, saying recent strikes have hit refineries and defence-linked enterprises located thousands of kilometres from Ukraine’s border. Russian authorities have linked those attacks to disruptions in domestic fuel supplies, saying major refineries have gone out of operation and contributed to fuel shortages across the country.
In recent weeks Russian rhetoric toward Western countries has hardened, with officials accusing Western states of direct involvement in Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian territory. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that the "special military operation" in Ukraine had evolved into a war because of Western backing for Ukraine.
Contextual note: The details above reflect the FSB's public statements about the seizure, movement and intended use of these drones, and the Russian government's framing of recent cross-border attacks and their consequences.