Smoke rises in Russia's Irkutsk region following a reported Ukrainian drone attack on a nearby airbase, in this still image from a video published on Sunday.
In a major escalation of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Kyiv has launched a surprise drone strike on Russian military airbases, just a day before the two sides initiate the second round of peace talks in Istanbul.
Ukraine said on Sunday it targeted Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers at a military base deep in Siberia.
A Ukrainian official said at least 40 Russian warplanes were struck.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described the operation as "an absolutely brilliant result," saying planning began 18 months ago.
“An absolutely brilliant outcome. And an outcome produced by Ukraine independently,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app, noting that the operation had taken more than a year and a half to prepare. “This is our longest-range operation.”
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Sunday that it had hit Russian military planes worth a combined $7 billion.
“$7 billion: This is the estimated cost of the enemy’s strategic aviation, which was hit today as a result of the SBU’s special operation,” the agency said in a social media post.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine had launched drone strikes targeting Russian military airfields across five regions on Sunday, causing several aircraft to catch fire.
The attacks occurred in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. The ministry said air defenses repelled the assaults in all but two regions, Murmansk and Irkutsk.
“In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire,” the ministry said.
Earlier, Russia launched over 400 drones at Ukraine in what Kyiv described as the largest drone attack of the war so far.
Russia also said it had advanced deeper into the Sumy region of Ukraine.
Russian and Ukrainian officials are due to meet in Istanbul on Monday. Russia currently controls nearly one-fifth of Ukrainian soil.
