Moscow City Court released from pretrial detention the truck drivers whom Ukraine unknowingly used for Operation Spiderweb

Moscow City Court released from pretrial detention the truck drivers whom Ukraine unknowingly used for Operation Spiderweb

Moscow City Court released four truck drivers whose trucks had hidden drones that attacked Russian military airfields during the SBU’s Operation Spiderweb.

On September 16, as Kommersant learned, Moscow City Court rejected the investigators’ motion to extend the arrests of Andrei Merkuryev, Alexander Zaitsev, Mikhail Ryumin, and Sergei Kanurin.

According to the outlet, First Deputy Prosecutor General Anatoly Razinkin refused in early September to approve the indictment against the drivers. He found that investigators had been unable to find direct evidence of the drivers’ guilt, and that circumstantial evidence was not enough to send the case to court.

The case materials were returned to investigators. The Investigative Committee appealed the decision, but the court nevertheless found that there were no grounds to extend the drivers’ arrests.

The drivers themselves denied guilt, saying they did not know what cargo they were transporting. The Ukrainian side also said the drivers did not know what was in the trucks.

The SBU carried out Operation Spiderweb on June 1, 2025. Ukrainian drones attacked military airfields in four Russian regions. The drones were hidden in prefabricated houses transported by five long-haul truckers. The driver of the fifth truck, 62-year-old Vasily Pytikov, was killed.

What is known about the drivers accused of a terrorist attack can be read on Meduza’s website.

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Mediazona confirmed the identities of the truck drivers whom Ukraine unknowingly used in Operation Spiderweb

Ukraine’s Security Service carried out Operation Spiderweb on June 1: Ukrainian drones attacked military airfields in four Russian regions. The drones were hidden in prefabricated houses transported by five long-haul truckers. The names of four drivers were…