Key suspect and drivers wanted in Russia amidst 'Spider Web' drone attack investigation
The owner of four trucks from the Chelyabinsk region, used to launch drones in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ryazan, and Ivanovo regions, has been declared wanted. The administration of the city of Ust-Kut in the Irkutsk region initially published, then deleted, a warrant for 37-year-old Artem Timofeev. The warrant included two possible birth dates and the name of another man born in Donetsk, who never resided in the Chelyabinsk region.
According to documents analyzed by The Insider, the photo was of Artem Timofeev (born December 7, 1987, in Zhytomyr). He was registered in Kyiv on Prirechnaya Street and studied at the National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts, as indicated on his VKontakte social media page.
In 2018, his registration changed from Kyiv to Miass in the Chelyabinsk region, where he obtained a Russian passport. He listed his workplace as the agricultural-industrial company "OFKOR," registered in Miass, which is owned by his father. In 2024, he acquired a Russian driving license for categories B, B1, M in exchange for a "foreign license without examination."
Previously, truck drivers, from which the drones were launched, reported they were hired to transport prefabricated houses. En route on the day of the attacks, an unknown person contacted them, instructing where to stop.
According to Astra, all drivers are currently detained. In the Ryazan region, the truck was driven by 47-year-old Sergey Kanurin, in the Ivanovo region by 56-year-old Mikhail Ryumin, in the Murmansk region by 56-year-old Alexander Zaytsev, and in the Irkutsk region by 62-year-old Andrey Merkurev.
On June 1, Ukraine executed an unprecedented operation called “Spider Web” — a massive drone attack on strategic airbases deep within Russia. According to Ukrainian media, the operation was meticulously planned over 18 months and personally overseen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The attack targeted the Belaya airbase in the Irkutsk region, Olenya airfield in the Murmansk region, Dyagilevo airbase in the Ryazan region, Ivanovo Severny airfield in the Ivanovo region, and Ukrainka airbase in the Amur region.