Ukraine destroys 40 aircraft deep inside Russia ahead of peace talks in
Istanbul
[June 02, 2025]
By SAMYA KULLAB
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian drone attack has destroyed more than 40
Russian planes deep in Russia’s territory, Ukraine's Security Service
said on Sunday, while Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones
just hours before a new round of direct peace talks in Istanbul.
A military official, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity to disclose operational details, said the far-reaching attack
took more than a year and a half to execute and was personally
supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In his evening address, Zelenskyy said that 117 drones had been used in
the operation. He claimed the operation had been headquartered out of an
office next to the local FSB headquarters. The FSB is the Russian
intelligence and security service.
The military source said it was an “extremely complex” operation,
involving the smuggling of first-person view, or FPV, drones to Russia,
where they were then placed in mobile wooden houses.
“Later, drones were hidden under the roofs of these houses while already
placed on trucks. At the right moment, the roofs of the houses were
remotely opened, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers,” the source
said.
Social media footage shared by Russian media appeared to show the drones
rising from inside containers while other panels lay discarded on the
road. One clip appeared to show men climbing onto a truck in an attempt
to halt the drones.
Long-range bombers targeted
The drones hit 41 planes stationed at military airfields on Sunday
afternoon, including A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22M aircraft, the official said.
Moscow has previously used Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-22 long-range bombers to
launch missiles at Ukraine, while A-50s are used to coordinate targets
and detect air defenses and guided missiles.
The Security Service of Ukraine said that the operation, which it
codenamed “Web”, had destroyed 34% of Russia's fleet of air missile
carriers with damages estimated at $7 billion. The claim could not be
independently verified.
Russia's Defense Ministry in a statement confirmed the attacks, which
damaged aircraft and sparked fires on air bases in the Irkutsk region,
more than 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) from Ukraine, as well as the
Murmansk region in the north, it said. Strikes were also repelled in the
Amur region in Russia's Far East and in the western regions of Ivanovo
and Ryazan, the ministry said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was briefed on Ukraine’s attack
Russia during a stop at Nellis Air Force Base and was monitoring the
situation. A senior defense official said on the condition of anonymity
to discuss sensitive matters that the U.S. was not given notification
before the attack. The official said it represented a level of
sophistication the U.S. had not seen before.
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In this image taken from video released June 1, 2025, by a source in
the Ukrainian Security Service shows a Ukrainian drone striking
Russian planes deep in Russia's territory. (Source in the Ukrainian
Security Service via AP)
Also on Sunday, Russia’s top investigative body said that explosions
had caused two bridges to collapse and derailed two trains in
western Russia overnight, killing seven in one of the incidents and
injuring dozens more. Russian officials, however, did not say what
had caused the blasts and the word “explosions” was later removed
from an Investigative Committee press release.
Attack ahead of talks
The drone attack came the same day as Zelenskyy said Ukraine will
send a delegation to Istanbul for a new round of direct peace talks
with Russia on Monday.
In a statement on Telegram, Zelenskyy said that Defense Minister
Rustem Umerov will lead the Ukrainian delegation. “We are doing
everything to protect our independence, our state and our people,”
Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian officials had previously called on the Kremlin to provide
a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the war
before the meeting takes place. Moscow had said it would share its
memorandum during the talks.
Russian strike hits an army unit
Russia on Sunday launched the biggest number of drones — 472 — on
Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s
air force said.
Russian forces also launched seven missiles alongside the barrage of
drones, said Yuriy Ignat, head of communications for the air force.
Earlier Sunday, Ukraine’s army said at least 12 Ukrainian service
members were killed and more than 60 were injured in a Russian
missile strike on an army training unit.
Ukrainian army commander Mykhailo Drapatyi later Sunday submitted
his resignation following the attack. He was a respected commander
whose leadership saw Ukraine regain land on the eastern front for
the first time since Kyiv's 2022 counteroffensive.
The training unit was located to the rear of the 1,000-kilometer
(620-mile) active front line, where Russian reconnaissance and
strike drones are able to strike. Ukraine’s forces lack troops and
take extra precautions to avoid mass gatherings as the skies across
the front line are saturated with Russian drones looking for
targets.
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