After Ukraine launched a shocking attack by UAVs, attacking military airports across Russia in the " spider network" campaign, Moscow suddenly launched a rapid counterattack, launching a Iskander-M missile to flatten the long-range UAV launch site in Kharkov region, northeast Ukraine.
A statement from the Russian Defense Ministry on June 1 said that the attack destroyed the entire launcher, more than 30 long-range suicide UAVs, and 8 military vehicles.
A video released by the Russian Defense Ministry shows the powerful explosion shaking the area near the airport where launch devices were located. This is considered Russia's fastest response since the UAV attack on the country began to escalate.
Less than 24 hours before, Ukraine was said to have launched the Spider web campaign - the codename for a series of UAV attacks on 5 military airports across Russia, from Murmansk in the Arctic to Amur in the Far East.
Although Moscow claimed only minor damage and no casualties, Kiev claimed to have hit many Russian strategic aircraft.
The operation was described by Ukrainian media as "historic", with more than 117 suicide UAVs used, and was directed by the SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) after more than 18 months of preparation. Some UAVs have even been launched from civilian trucks in Russia.
The Iskander missile attack was carried out just one day before a new round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey.
Earlier, on the night of May 31, two railway bridges in Bryansk and Kursk - border areas of Ukraine - suddenly collapsed in what were called "sabotage" incidents, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 70.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which the US side expressed condolences to the victims. Mr. Lavrov said he would announce the investigation results and "the people behind it would pay the price".
A series of events in the past 48 hours - from widespread UAV attacks, mysterious bridge collapses, to the Iskander response - signalled a dangerous new turning point in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. While both sides were preparing to sit down at the negotiating table, the bomb exploded, literally.
And if the Spider web is Ukraine's main blow, Iskander could just be the opening shot for the upcoming chain reaction from Russia.
