Russian bombers burn after ‘audacious’ Ukraine attack
Ukraine has carried out what’s being described as its “most audacious” attack of the war, using drones smuggled deep into Russia to blow up 41 bomber planes.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the surprise hit, codenamed “Operation Spider’s Web”, targeted Russia’s nuclear-capable long-range bombers.
It reportedly involved drones being released from the backs of trucks and striking numerous Russian military bases as far away as Siberia.
It was the first such attack so far from the front lines, more than 4300 kilometres away.
Video reportedly from the Ukraine Security Service (SBU) shows military planes exploding at an airbase as a drone flies over.
The Kyiv Independent reports that the drones were hidden under the roofs of mobile wooden cabins placed on trucks.
“At the right moment, the roofs of the cabins were opened remotely, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers,” an SBU source told the outlet.
“Currently, more than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3.
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In a public statement, the SBU said “enemy strategic bombers are burning en masse in Russia”.
The SBU later reported Russia suffered $7 billion in damages and lost 34 per cent of its cruise-missile carriers in key Russian airbases, reported The Kyiv Independent.
Zelensky hailed the operation as an “absolutely brilliant result”.
“One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution,” he posted to X.
“Our most long-range operation. Our people involved in preparing the operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time.
“Of course, not everything can be revealed at this moment, but these are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books.
“Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so – we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war.
“Russia started this war, Russia must end it. Glory to Ukraine!”
Screenshot of the drone strike on a Russian airbase.
The attack came on the eve of peace talks.
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After days of uncertainty over whether or not Ukraine would even attend, Zelensky said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would sit down with Russian officials at the second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday.
The talks, proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, have so far yielded the biggest prisoner exchange of the war — but no sense of any consensus on how to halt the fighting.
Amid talk of peace, though, there was much war.
At least seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge in Russia’s Bryansk region, neighbouring Ukraine, was blown up over a passenger train heading to Moscow with 388 people on board. No one has yet claimed responsibility.
Russia launched 472 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said, the highest nightly total of the war so far. Russia had also launched seven missiles, the air force said.
Russia said it had advanced deeper into the Sumy region of Ukraine, and open source pro-Ukrainian maps showed Russia took 450 square km of Ukrainian land in May, its fastest monthly advance in at least six months.
US President Donald Trump has demanded Russia and Ukraine make peace. He has threatened to walk away if they do not, potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers, which have far less cash and smaller stocks of weapons than the US.
According to Trump envoy Keith Kellogg, the two sides will present their respective documents outlining their ideas for peace terms in Turkey. However, it is clear that after three years of intense war, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart.
Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. The US says more than 1.2 million people have been killed and injured in the war since 2022.
Trump has called Putin “crazy” and berated Zelensky in public in the Oval Office, but he has also said that he thinks peace is achievable and that if Putin delays, then Russia may face tough sanctions.
In June last year, Putin set out his opening terms for an immediate end to the war: Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.
Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul will present to the Russian side a proposed roadmap for reaching a lasting peace settlement, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters.
According to the document, there will be no restrictions on Ukraine’s military strength after a peace deal is struck, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow’s forces, and no reparations for Ukraine.
The document also stated that the current location of the front line will be the starting point for negotiations about territory.
Russia currently controls a little under a fifth of Ukraine, or about 113,100 square kilometres.
