Russia has launched an extensive manhunt for a former DJ and his wife, an erotic fiction writer, after they were reportedly linked to Ukraine's dramatic "Russian Pearl Harbor" assault on its military airfields.
Ukraine's surprise assault— dubbed "Operation Spider Web" — managed to wipe out or damage dozens of Russian nuclear bombers and other military aircraft by using explosives-packed drones hidden inside multiple trucks that were driven onto the airbases. Russian authorities are now frantically looking for 37-year-old Artem Timofeev, a former Ukrainian DJ who they claim is the owner of the trucking company involved in the attack. Timofeev, Russian authorities believe, had all the details of the drone attack beforehand.
Playing Music to the Russians
Timofeev's 34-year-old wife, Ekaterina "Katya" Timofeeva — who moonlights as an erotic novelist — is suspected of assisting him in the attack, according to Russian media reports. "Artem is now wanted in connection with a terrorist attack in Irkutsk region," Russian online news source Readovka reported. "Four lorries were registered in his name, and one of them was the source of the drones that launched [in an attack on a Russian air base]."
His wife — author of the book "I Became Bad While You Loved Me" — has been offline for the past two weeks and has deleted her previously active social media profiles, according to multiple reports.
Timofeev was reportedly last spotted about a week ago at the couple's apartment in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
The pair are believed to have spent their early years in Ukraine before relocating to Russia, though the exact timing of the move remains unclear.
Timofeev is said to have launched his trucking company in December of last year, months after 'Operation Spiderweb' was planned.
Working Like a Spy
Before moving to Russia, Timofeev was reportedly a co-owner of a clothing line and worked as a DJ in Kyiv. Local media reports suggest that the couple fled Ukraine after the recent attacks.
According to Ukrainian officials, the country's secret service pulled off the attack—nicknamed "the Russian Pearl Harbor"—by hiding armed drones inside shed rooftops that were mounted on trucks.
Once the trucks entered multiple airbases, a remote-controlled mechanism lifted the shed roofs, releasing 117 drones that carried out the destructive strikes.
The dramatic and meticulously executed attack reportedly caught Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military off guard.
Ukrainian forces claimed that around 34% of Russia's Tu-95 bomber fleet — capable of carrying nuclear weapons — was destroyed during the raids on five separate airbases across the nation.
In total, 41 Russian military aircraft were struck in the operation, resulting in an estimated $7 billion in damages.
