New Suspects from Chelyabinsk in Drone Attack Case
Details have emerged in the criminal case about the drone attacks from trucks on Russian regions and military airfields, carried out last summer. The Defense Ministry reported at the time that the targets were facilities in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions, with some strikes repelled. A high-profile criminal case on terrorism has led to the search for the Timofeyevs*, a couple who lived for a long time in Chelyabinsk. Now, the names of several others involved have been named. According to Kommersant, the Timofeyevs* acted together with truck drivers, and all of them are residents of Chelyabinsk Region.
How the Attack Was Carried Out
The attack was carried out on 1 June 2025 simultaneously in several regions. According to the investigation, FPV drones were launched from areas near military airfields. In the Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions, according to the Defense Ministry, the attacks were repelled, while in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, aviation equipment caught fire.
«Some participants in the terrorist attacks have been detained,» the Russian Defense Ministry reported on 1 June 2025.
The ministry blamed Kyiv for what happened. According to Kommersant, Ukraine called this operation «Spiderweb».
On the same day, security forces raided a warehouse on Sverdlovsky Trakt in Chelyabinsk, where drones for Ukrainian attacks might have been assembled. Preliminary reports indicate that the warehouse was rented by Chelyabinsk resident Artyom Timofeyev*, who also owned the trucks from which the drones were launched. Official comments from the investigation have not been received, but alerts quickly circulated. Soon, both Timofeyev* and his wife Yekaterina* were declared wanted and added to the list of terrorists and extremists.
According to Kommersant citing the investigation, in addition to the Timofeyevs*, five truck drivers from Chelyabinsk might have been involved in the attack – Alexander Zaitsev, Sergey Kanurin, Andrey Merkuryev, Mikhail Ryumin, Vasily Pytikov. The latter died as a result of the terrorist attack, and the other four were arrested.
«They left Chelyabinsk on trailers to different regions of Russia with cargo in the form of frame houses, in the roofs of which, as experts later established, UAVs were hidden,» Kommersant says about the role of the detained drivers.
Were They Used Unwittingly?
All four detained drivers are now in a pre-trial detention center. Recently, Moscow«s Basmanny Court extended the detention period for Mikhail Ryumin and Sergey Kanurin, while for Alexander Zaitsev and Andrey Merkuryev, this issue will be considered on Friday, 30 January. They did not hide from the investigation and were detained immediately after the terrorist attacks. However, the drivers do not admit guilt.
For committing a terrorist act by a group of persons, causing significant property damage (points a, in part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), punishment ranges from 12 to 20 years of imprisonment.
«Ryumin stated that he was »used in the dark.« He was performing a routine trip and could not have been aware of the dangerous content of the cargo,» Kommersant reported.
According to the defense, the drivers even tried to stop or shoot down the drones when they realized what was happening. According to Kommersant, the drones were activated remotely by SBU employees.
Now, lawyers are asking to release the drivers from the pre-trial detention center. In Mikhail Ryumin«s case, they cite health conditions, among other things. But for other accused, the defense insists on easing the preventive measures.
«Despite the arguments presented by the investigator, Kanurin»s guilt has not been proven,« Kommersant quoted Kanurin»s lawyer. «In essence, the evidence confirms that Kanurin involuntarily became the person transporting the UAVs. All his guilt lies in being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Judging him for this is wrong.»
Kommersant notes that the same version of being «used in the dark» was held by eight accused who ultimately received life sentences by the verdict of the Southern District Military Court in the criminal case on the blowing up of the Crimean Bridge by a trailer in October 2022. According to their lawyers, there was no evidence in the case that the suspects knew about the explosives (which were hidden in rolls of polyethylene film) and planned to carry out a terrorist attack.
What Else Is Known About the Timofeyevs*
Wanted Artyom Timofeyev* turned out to be much closer to the Southern Urals than it might have seemed at first glance. In the region where the young man and his wife moved several years ago from Ukraine, there are many relatives both in Chelyabinsk and in Miass and Zlatoust. We have collected everything known about his relatives. Here is a report from the neighborhood where he lived, and a dossier on his wife Yekaterina.
All news on the topic – in a special story.
*added to the list of terrorists and extremists
