DISINFO: The CIA is behind Ukraine’s terrorist attacks on Russian airfields

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: The CIA is behind Ukraine’s terrorist attacks on Russian airfields

SUMMARY

The large-scale terrorist attacks on Russian military airfields, by Ukraine, are an organisational and technological product of the collective West – the CIA, the Pentagon, and NATO.

It is almost inconceivable that the technological capabilities required for such a large-scale operation – intelligence gathering, precision strikes on targets, data transmission over thousands of kilometres, and synchronisation of the terrorist attack across several time zones – would be possessed by Ukrainian special services. Obviously, this is NATO “assistance.”

In order to escalate the ongoing proxy war against Russia, NATO special services organised a large-scale terrorist proxy operation, provided its financing and logistics, and used SBU representatives as top-notch "Sharikovs" in the process.

RESPONSE

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing the West, and particularly the US and NATO, of being involved in the war in Ukraine, downplaying the impact of the 1 June 2025 drone raid (Operation Spiderweb) carried out by Ukraine’s special services against Russian air bases and aircraft regularly used to bomb Ukrainian territory.

The claim that the CIA, NATO, or any Western centre were involved in planning or executing an attack on Russia's nuclear capabilities is baseless and not supported by any credible evidence.

Ukraine planned the operation for more than a year and a half, and used 117 drones to carry out the attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The SBU sources said that among the hit Russian aircraft were strategic nuclear-capable bombers called Tu-95 and Tu-22M3, as well as A-50 early warning warplanes.

The piece falsely portrays legitimate Ukrainian military operations as 'terrorist attacks' orchestrated by Western powers. The operation was part of Ukraine's defensive efforts against Russian aggression.

By labelling this attack as “terrorist”, pro-Kremlin disinformation tries to portray itself as a victim and to discredit Ukraine, aiming to undermine international support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s aggression.

While Russia has tried to portray the Ukrainian drone raid on 01 June 2025 as a “terror attack”, only air bases and aircraft regularly used to bomb Ukrainian territory were targeted. As such, they fall strictly under the category of legitimate military targets under international law, and the operation cannot be considered a terrorist attack under any circumstance. Nonetheless, by framing Ukrainian operations as “terrorism” and Russian bombing as mere military operations, this disinformation story aims to portray Russia as the rightful side in a war against an evil enemy.

See also our article An unpleasant incident.

Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine is unable to attack Russian airfields, that The shadow of British strategists is visible in the attack on Russian facilities, that The collective West attacked Russian military airfields, that The UK is behind in planning the attack on Russia's nuclear triad, that The Kyiv regime carried out terrorist attacks on military airports, or that Ukrainian attack on Russian military airfields is terrorism.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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