Europe

Ukraine hits 40 Russian aircraft in pre-talks strike

Ukrainian security officials said Sunday that a large-scale drone assault had destroyed or damaged more than 40 Russian military aircraft at multiple airfields deep inside Russia, as both countries prepared for a new round of direct peace talks in Istanbul.

The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, claimed responsibility for the operation, which it said took over a year and a half to plan and was conducted under the direct supervision of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Quoted by the The Associated Press, a senior Ukrainian military official said that the drones had been covertly smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile wooden structures mounted on trucks, and remotely activated.

“This was an extremely complex operation,” the official said, adding that the drones were launched from inside Russia to avoid detection. Video shared on social media, verified by Russian state-linked accounts, showed drones lifting off from what appeared to be disguised containers, with personnel scrambling to stop them.

Zelensky, in his nightly address, said 117 drones had been used in the strikes, which he described as targeting bombers involved in past missile attacks on Ukraine. He said the operation’s command post had been located near the local offices of Russia’s FSB intelligence agency.

The SBU said the strikes, codenamed “Operation Web,” damaged 41 military aircraft, including Tu-95 and Tu-22M long-range bombers and A-50 airborne command and control planes. The agency claimed the operation took out 34 percent of Russia’s fleet of air missile carriers and caused damage worth an estimated $7 billion. These figures could not be independently verified.

Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that attacks had been carried out on airfields in several regions, including Irkutsk, Murmansk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and the Far Eastern Amur region. It said some aircraft were damaged and fires had been reported but provided no casualty figures.

The scale and reach of the assault surprised some U.S. officials. A senior Pentagon official said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was briefed on the operation while visiting Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Washington had not been informed in advance and acknowledged the attack demonstrated “a level of sophistication we had not previously seen from Ukraine.”

Elsewhere in Russia, the country’s top investigative agency said explosions caused two railway bridges to collapse in the western regions, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more. Initial references to “explosions” were later removed from an official statement, and authorities have not confirmed the cause.

The drone strikes came just hours before a Ukrainian delegation was scheduled to depart for Istanbul for another round of peace talks. President Zelensky said in a statement that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov would lead the team, reiterating Kyiv’s commitment to defending its sovereignty and people.

Ukraine had previously asked Moscow to submit a formal memorandum outlining its negotiating position before the talks. Russian officials said the document would be presented during the meetings.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 472 drones on Sunday — the largest single-day drone assault since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Seven missiles were also fired. Earlier in the day, Ukrainian officials said at least 12 soldiers were killed and more than 60 injured in a Russian missile strike on a military training facility.