Who Is Artem Tymofieiev, The Mastermind Behind Ukraine’s Drone Strikes Deep Inside Russia?

Last Updated:June 03, 2025, 15:15 IST

Tymofieiev is believed to have helped Kyiv strike deep within Russian territory — targeting four strategic air bases across three time zones using swarms of kamikaze drones

Tymofieiev is now on every Russian watchlist, with his name and photo circulated by Russian authorities. (Photo: X/@EurekaNews10)

After Ukraine’s massive drone strike on Russia shook the world, many are now asking how Kyiv — often seen as the underdog in its full-scale war with Moscow — managed to carry out one of the most daring attacks since the conflict began in 2022.

A name now echoing through intelligence circles and Kremlin war rooms alike is Artem Tymofieiev. Once an unassuming “entrepreneur" living in Chelyabinsk, Russia, he is now at the center of a nationwide manhunt, suspected of orchestrating one of the most audacious military operations of the war, according to a report in DailyMail.

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Nicknamed the “mastermind" behind Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web, Tymofieiev is believed to have helped Kyiv strike deep within Russian territory — targeting four strategic air bases across three time zones using swarms of kamikaze drones. The operation, unprecedented in scope, reportedly destroyed a significant portion of Russia’s long-range bomber fleet — aircraft that have haunted Ukrainian skies since the war began in 2022.

Tymofieiev’s Quiet Life With A Hidden Mission

Tymofieiev’s story reads like a Cold War thriller. According to Russian authorities, he was born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, and later lived in Kyiv. At some point in the last few years, he relocated to Chelyabinsk, more than 1,000 miles east of Moscow and just 85 miles from the Kazakh border. Officially, he ran a small business. Unofficially, he may have been Ukraine’s man behind enemy lines — a sleeper agent embedded in plain sight, as per the DailyMail report.

Friends and neighbours, Russian sources claim, knew him as a quiet pro-Ukrainian figure but never suspected him of espionage. If they’re right, Tymofieiev pulled off one of the most complex intelligence-led strikes in modern military history.

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Operation Spider’s Web

In what sounds like a screenplay plot, drones were smuggled into Russia, hidden in flatbed trucks disguised as mobile wooden cabins. These trucks, driven by unwitting Russian drivers hired by Tymofieiev, transported the drones to air bases in Ryazan, Ivanovo, Irkutsk, and even as far as Murmansk in the Arctic Circle.

On June 1 — coinciding with Russia’s Military Transport Aviation Day — the trucks were parked near the base perimeters. Then, almost in unison, the truck roofs were remotely opened. The drones — controlled by Ukrainian pilots via Russia’s own mobile network — soared toward their targets.

Ukraine claims to have destroyed up to 41 aircraft, including rare TU-95 and TU-22 bombers and even a Beriev A-50 early warning plane. Satellite imagery and drone footage released by Ukraine support the scale of destruction.

Tymofieiev is now on every Russian watchlist, with his name and photo circulated by Russian authorities. They claim he oversaw drone assembly in a rented Chelyabinsk warehouse, ironically located next to an FSB office.

According to Russia’s interior ministry, the lorries used in the attacks were registered under his name. Drivers testified that they were merely delivering “wooden houses," unaware of the lethal cargo. However, Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, asserts that Tymofieiev and his team are “safely back in Ukraine."

Kyiv, Ukraine

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