Ukraine Initiates Extensive Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases Right Before Ceasefire Discussions

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Ukraine says it has destroyed Russian bombers worth billions of dollars in a “large-scale” drone assault on enemy soil as it geared up for talks with Russian counterparts to explore prospects for a ceasefire.

Ukraine claimed it damaged US$7 billion ($10.8 billion) worth of Russian aircraft parked at four air bases thousands of kilometres away, with unverified video footage showing aircraft engulfed in flames and black smoke.

A source in the Ukrainian security services said the drones were concealed in the ceilings of shipping containers, which were opened up to release them for the assault.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had deployed 117 drones in the attack, which he called “our most long-range operation” in more than three years of war.

“An absolutely brilliant outcome. And an outcome produced by Ukraine independently,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app, noting the operation had taken more than a year and a half to prepare.

Ukraine did not notify the United States in advance of drone attacks carried out on Russian air bases, a Ukrainian government official told Reuters.

The long-planned operation came at a delicate moment three years into Russia’s invasion.

Zelenskyy said he was sending a delegation to Istanbul led by his defence minister Rustem Umerov for talks this week with Russian officials.

Zelenskyy, who previously voiced scepticism about whether Russia was serious in proposing this week’s meeting, said he had defined the Ukrainian delegation’s position going into it.

Priorities included “a complete and unconditional ceasefire” and the return of prisoners and abducted children, he said on social media.

Trump calls Putin "crazy" as Russia continues bombarding Ukraine image

Russia has rejected previous ceasefire demands.

It said it has formulated its own peace terms but refused to divulge them in advance. Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out a Turkish proposal for the leaders of the two countries to attend the meeting.

Russian news agencies said the Russian delegation was headed to Istanbul for the talks.

Ukraine claims $7 billion in damage to Russian aircraft

A source in Ukraine’s security service SBU said the coordinated attacks inside Russia were “aimed at destroying enemy bombers far from the front”.

Rybar, an account on the Telegram messaging platform close to the Russian military, described it as a “very heavy blow” for Russia and pointed to what it called “serious errors” by Russian intelligence.

The SBU source said strikes targeted Russian air bases in the eastern Siberian city of Belaya, in Olenya, in the Arctic near Finland, and in Ivanovo and Dyagilevo, both east of Moscow.

More than 40 aircraft had been hit at the Belaya base and a fire had broken out there, the source said, showing an unverified video in which several aircraft could be seen in flames and black smoke rising.

Volodymyr Zelensky, on the left, hugs a man wearing a military uniform in an office.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hugs Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the country’s security service, during a meeting where Malyuk reported on the operation against Russian airbases. Credit: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / EPA / AAP

AFP was not able to independently verify the claims or the video images.

An SBU statement posted on the Telegram messaging app estimated the damage caused by the assaults at US$7 billion ($10.8 billion).

“Thirty-four per cent of strategic cruise missile carriers at the main airfields of the Russian Federation were hit,” the SBU said on the Telegram messaging app

A Ukrainian security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to Reuters, said 41 Russian warplanes were hit.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed on Telegram that several of its military aircraft “caught fire”, adding there were no casualties and that several “participants” had been arrested.

Igor Kobzev, governor of Russia’s Irkutsk region, which hosts the targeted Belaya air base, said it was “the first attack of this sort in Siberia”.

He called on the population not to panic and posted an amateur video apparently showing a drone flying in the sky and a large cloud of grey smoke.

Andrey Chibis, the governor of the Murmansk region, where the Olenya base is located, also stated that “enemy drones” were flying overhead and that anti-aircraft defences were operational.

Russia has been announcing Ukrainian drone attacks on a near-daily basis, usually saying they had all been shot down. But it was rare for such drone strikes to be reported so deep within its territory.

At the same time, Russia has been carrying out constant attacks on Ukraine.

Russian shelling and an air attack killed four people in areas outside the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional governor said over the weekend.

Ukraine’s air force said it was hit by 472 Russian drones and seven missiles overnight — a record since the beginning of the invasion.

Ukraine suffers its most intense aerial attack since Russia invaded image

In a rare admission of its military losses, the Ukraine army said Russia’s “missile strike on the location of one of the training units” had killed a dozen soldiers, most of whom had been in shelters during the attack, and wounded more than 60.

The attack led Ukrainian ground forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty to announce his resignation, saying he felt “responsibility” for the soldiers’ deaths.

Blasts fell bridges

Separately over the weekend, the Russian army said it had captured another village in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, where Ukraine fears Russia could mount a fresh ground assault.

Russia claims to have captured several settlements in the region in recent weeks, and has massed more than 50,000 soldiers on the other side of the border, according to Zelenskyy.

Authorities in the region have evacuated more than 200 villages amid intensified shelling.

In Russia, officials said a blast brought down a road bridge in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing seven people.

A separate rail bridge in the neighbouring Kursk region was also blown up, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver.

Authorities did not say who was behind the explosions, but investigators said a criminal inquiry was underway.