The Ukrainian drone struck several military air bases deep within Russia on Sunday in a major operation one day before neighbors held peace talks in Istanbul.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukraine has launched drone strikes targeting Russian military airfields in five regions, with several aircraft fired.
The attacks occurred in Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions. The ministry said air defense repelled attacks in all but two areas.
“In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, several aircraft have been fired due to the launch of FPV drones from areas close to the airfield,” the Ministry of Defense said. An FPV drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle with a camera on the front that relays live footage to the operator.
The fire disappeared and no casualties were reported. Some individuals involved in the attack were in detention, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
On Sunday night, Ukrainian President Voldy Mirzelensky praised the “absolutely great” Ukrainian drone attack on the Telegram messaging app.
However, Sunday’s attack was just the latest in a series of bold hits on Russian military facilities, territory and symbols of power in the war of the past three years.
What happened on June 1st?
Zelenskyy said 117 drones were being used to attack Russian bases on Sunday. “Russia had very specific losses and it was justly the case,” he said.
The Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) said it had hit a Russian military plane worth $7 billion for its Russian military plane.
The targets included Bellaya Air Base in Irkutsk, about 4,300 km (2,670 miles) from the Ukrainian border, and Orenia Air Base in southern Murmansk, about 1,800 km (1,120 miles) from Ukraine.
Earlier on Sunday, reports from several local Ukrainian media claimed that the operation was carried out by the SBU using drones smuggled deep into Russia and hidden inside trucks.
At least 41 heavy Russian bombers were hit on four air bases, according to the report. The strike reportedly raided the TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers. It is used by Russia to launch long-range missiles in Ukrainian cities.
Russia has yet to confirm the extent of the damage, but the attack could mark the most harmful drone strike of Ukraine’s war to date.
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren reported from Kiev that “it’s a bold strike that Ukraine has been waiting for so long and patiently giving birth, and comes after the Russian air has accelerated dramatically over the past few weeks.”
What is the background?
Both Russia and Ukraine have spiked recent drone attacks on the other side.
Last week, Russia launched more than 900 Kamikaze drones and 92 missiles, killing at least 16 civilians. These attacks followed days after the Ukrainian attack on Russian military infrastructure in the Russian Tula, Arabga and Tatarstan regions, where Kiev used at least 800 drones.
Meanwhile, Ukraine sent a delegation to Istanbul, led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, for a meeting with Russian officials on Monday. The previous round of talks on May 16 led to a deal in which Ukraine and Russia each traded 1,000 prisoners of war. Monday’s talks led to an agreement on another prisoner exchange.
Zelensky, who has previously been skeptical of Russia’s seriousness regarding peace talks, said that Ukrainian delegations will be taking part in meetings in Istanbul on certain priorities, such as “a complete and unconditional suspension” and the return of prisoners and abandoned children.
Russia says it has developed its own conditions of peace and ruled out Turkish proposals for meetings held at the leadership level.
The meeting in Torquier on Monday was spurred by President Donald Trump’s call for a quick deal to end the three-year war. However, the meeting did not lead to a major breakthrough.
More and more frustrated by the lack of progress towards a ceasefire, Trump recently vented his grievances with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Something happened to him,” Trump wrote on social media platforms on May 25, referring to Putin. “He’s absolutely crazy!”
“While we were talking, he was shooting rockets at Kiev and other cities,” Trump told reporters.
The US president has yet to respond to Ukraine’s attack on Russian air bases on Sunday.
The strike is the latest in a series of stunning headline grabbing attacks that Russia has regularly suffered since it launched a full-scale Ukraine invasion in February 2022.
Crimea Bridge Attack, 2022 and 2023
In May 2018, four years after Russia annexed the Crimea Peninsula, Putin drove trucks across a newly built bridge connecting the Russian mainland with the peninsula, infuriating Ukrainians.
Ukraine first revenge in 2022 and again in 2023.
In October 2022, a truck explosion that Russia denounced in Ukraine blew up parts of the bridge. Russia repaired the damage, and Putin tried to revive the symbolism of 2018, driving again this time with Mercedes.
However, Ukraine will attack again. In July 2023, the bridge, which served as an important supply route for the Russian military in Ukraine, exploded. Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Commission said the strike was carried out by two Ukrainian sea drones. Officials said two people were killed and a child was injured.
The Black Sea Fleet Attack, 2023
In September 2023, Ukraine launched a series of attacks on occupied Crimea to use drones and missiles to target major facilities in the Russian Black Sea Fleet near Sebastopol.
Satellite images showed that the initial attack destroyed half of the communications command center in Verkhnosadove’s Black Sea Fleet.
According to Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne, Ukraine followed up its attack on a strike against Crimea’s Saki airfield.
The most devastating attack then took place on September 22nd.
Ukraine claimed it had attacked the Blacksea Fleet Headquarters and killed 34 officers, including Fleet Commander Admiral Victor Sokolov. An additional 105 soldiers reportedly were injured.
Kremlin attack, 2023
In the middle of the night in early May 2023, the Kremlin, the ultimate symbol of Russian power for centuries, was attacked as it was seen in images and rough videos from around the world.
Moscow said two Ukrainian drones were used in attacks on Putin’s residence, but were invalidated by electronic defenses.
“We view these actions as planned terrorist laws and as attempts in the life of the President on the eve of victory, the eve of the parade on May 9th.
Zelensky denied that his country had attacked the Russian capital or its president.
“We won’t attack Putin or Moscow. We will fight on territory,” Zelensky said at a press conference in Helsinki, Finland. However, independent analysts from the Western countries, Ukrainian ally, believe Ukrainian special forces were behind the drone attacks on the Kremlin.
And a year later, Ukraine will blur the line between territory and Russian land in an escalating war between neighbors.
Kursk Invasion, 2024 and 2025
The Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack on the Kursk region on August 6, 2024, shocking Moscow. Russia began evacuating nearby Belgorod areas as the country’s troops were forced to stand up Ukrainian attacks in western Russia.
At the height of the invasion, the Ukrainian army claimed 1,400 square kilometers (540 square miles), about twice the size of Singapore.
By the beginning of 2025, Russia had most of the territory lost in Kursk before Ukraine launched a second attack in January.
However, Kiev suffered a major set-off earlier this year after Trump temporarily blocked all military and intelligence news support. By early March, Russia had recaptured most of its territory.
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