Ukraine says it has hit over 40 Russian military aircraft in mass drone attack

Published connected 01/06/2025 - 14:52 GMT+2•Updated 22:28

An cognition by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) connected Sunday deed 41 miltary aircraft, among them various types of strategical bombers that were lined up astatine 4 airfields wrong Russia.

“Enemy strategical bombers are burning en masse successful Russia," an charismatic pinch nan SBU said, adding that Ukraine was conducting “a ample standard typical cognition aimed astatine destroying force bomber aircraft.”

The operation, dubbed Spiderweb ("Pavutyna"), targeted 4 airfields: Dyagilevo successful Riazan region, Ivanovo successful Ivanovo region, Belaya aerial guidelines successful Russia's Irkutsk region, which is located successful south-eastern Siberia complete 4,000km eastbound of nan frontline, and Olenya aerial guidelines successful Russia's Murmansk region, immoderate 2,000km distant from Ukraine’s border.

It included nan clandestine smuggling of drones heavy into Russian territory, hiding them and yet launching them remotely.

Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed nan attacks successful a statement, arsenic did nan governors of Murmansk and Irkutsk. Murmansk Governor Andrei Chibis said "security measures person been strengthened."

In March, Ukraine announced it had developed a caller type of drone that tin scope a scope of up to 3,000 kilometres, but gave nary specifications astir its type aliases nan size of its warhead.

Recent outer images show various Russian strategical bombers astatine nan 4 bases that were allegedly deed during nan operation, including Tu-95, Tu-22M3, Tu-160 and A-50.

Tu-95, Tu-22 and Tu-160 are Russian dense bombers regularly utilized by Moscow to motorboat missiles astatine Ukraine.

The Tu-22M3 is tin of carrying Kh-22 and Kh-32 cruise missiles, travelling astatine a velocity of 4,000 km/h, exceeding Mach 4. 

Tu-95 — nan oldest among them — is simply a Soviet-era plane, primitively utilized to transportation atomic bombs but since modified to motorboat cruise missiles. 

A-50 is simply a radar discovery aircraft, which tin observe aerial defence systems, guided missiles, and coordinate targets for Russian combatant jets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said connected Sunday that he was gathering pinch nan Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, arsenic good arsenic nan General Staff and nan SBU. 

"We are doing everything to protect our independence, our authorities and our people," Zelenskyy said.

He would beryllium outlining "tasks for nan adjacent term" and will "define our positions up of nan gathering successful Istanbul connected Monday," Zelenskyy added.

Ukrainian and Russian officials are scheduled to meet successful Istanbul connected Monday for nan 2nd information of talks betwixt nan 2 sides.

Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s utmost privilege is an unconditional ceasefire, followed by nan merchandise of prisoners and nan return of Ukrainian children who Russia forcefully deported.