Ukraine destroys Russian bombers with stunning barrage of drones forward of peace talks

MOSCOW and KYIV — Ukraine attacked Russia with a collection of drone strikes on navy air bases deep within the Russian heartland on Sunday — an operation that appeared timed to affect a new spherical of Russian-Ukrainian ceasefire talks set to happen in Istanbul Monday.

After greater than three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this rigorously deliberate assault, supposed to hit bombers that launch missiles on Ukrainian cities, was celebrated by Ukrainians, who referred to as it “Operation Trojan Trucks” on social media.

Ukraine’s Safety Service smuggled first-person view drones laden with small explosives onto vans pushed deep into Russia. The operation was acknowledged by Ukrainian officers as a much-needed win.

“The enemy has been bombing our country almost every night from these aircraft, and today they actually felt that retaliation is inevitable,” Vasyl Malyuk, the top of Ukraine’s safety companies, mentioned in a press release.

The drones — deployed from vans parked alongside highways in proximity to Russian navy installations — have been used to strike 41 heavy bomber jets in bases as far-off as Murmansk in Russia’s Arctic north and Irkutsk in Siberia, greater than 2,700 miles away from the Ukrainian border.

Malyuk mentioned the drones have been hidden underneath the roofs of wood cabins positioned on vans. These roofs have been opened remotely, and the drones flew out to hit the Russian bombers, he mentioned.

“Our strikes will continue as long as Russia terrorizes Ukrainians with missiles and Shaheds,” he mentioned, referring to the Iranian-designed drones which have performed a central function in Russia’s aerial assault on Ukraine

In an earlier assertion concerning the operation, formally dubbed “Spiderweb,” Ukraine’s safety service claimed it destroyed $7 billion value of Russia’s strategic aviation with the strikes — a few third of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers

Russian officers downplay influence

Information of the operation was the speak of each Russia and Ukraine.

One video posted on-line confirmed the drones take off from a truck mattress parked alongside a freeway because the Russian narrator let obscenities fly. One other exhibits a Russian serviceman swearing into the digicam as planes burn behind him. One pro-Kremlin navy blogger referred to the assault as a “Russian Pearl Harbor.”

In his night video handle on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the “perfectly prepared” operation utilizing 117 drones had been deliberate for greater than a yr and a half underneath the nostril of Russia’s safety service.

“Our people operated in different Russian regions in three time zones,” he mentioned. “And our people were taken out of Russian territory on the eve of the operation. Those who helped us are safe.”

Russia’s Protection Ministry later confirmed the assaults on the navy bases however performed down their influence — claiming “only several pieces of aviation technology caught fire.”

The ministry additionally mentioned its forces had thwarted further assaults on three different bases and made a number of arrests — with out offering particulars. It added nobody had been injured within the assaults.

Neither the Ukrainian or Russian claims on the injury occurred could possibly be independently verified.

Russian trains derail

The drones have been removed from the one violence over the weekend.

Not less than seven individuals have been killed and greater than 104 injured after a bridge collapsed on a passenger prepare touring by way of western Russia’s Bryansk area Saturday evening — sending particles and a number of other vans onto the prepare compartments under.

Photographs shared on social media confirmed surprised passengers making an attempt to climb out of smashed carriages at the hours of darkness.

In the meantime, Russian railway authorities say a separate rail bridge collapsed within the neighboring Kursk area hours later — derailing a freight prepare and injuring a number of crew members.

Russia’s Examine Committee mentioned it had launched a legal probe into each incidents on terrorism grounds — however pulled again on preliminary claims the bridges had each collapsed on account of planted explosives.

Nonetheless, a number of distinguished Russian politicians have been fast responsible Ukraine and recommend it was purpose sufficient to proceed the conflict at any value. 

“Our answer will be a buffer zone so large that it prevents the penetration of terrorists onto our territory in the future,” wrote Andrei Klishas, a senior member of Russia’s higher home Federation Council.

Whereas Ukrainian authorities didn’t touch upon both prepare derailment, Ukraine’s navy intelligence did affirm a success on a Russian navy prepare transferring provides in an occupied a part of the Ukrainian area of Zaporizhzhia.

Russian drone strikes

Russia additionally carried out assaults — launching greater than 470 drones and a number of other missiles at targets throughout Ukraine, in what Ukrainian authorities mentioned was the most important single-day air assault for the reason that conflict started.

Essentially the most lethal: what Ukraine’s military mentioned was a “missile strike on the location of one of the training units” — killing a dozen troopers and injuring greater than 60. Ukraine’s navy not often confirms losses and didn’t disclose the exact location of the coaching camp, although Zelenskyy mentioned in his night handle that it was in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk area.

The commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Main Common Mykhailo Drapatyi, submitted his resignation after the assault “out of a personal sense of responsibility” for the casualties. “An army where no one is held responsible for losses dies from within,” he wrote on his Fb web page.

Ukraine has additionally accused the Kremlin of massing some 50,000 troops at its border close to Sumy in northeastern Ukraine upfront of a potential summer time offensive — whilst Kyiv and Moscow have engaged in a few of their first direct peace talks in over three years amid strain from the Trump administration.

Peace talks 

The weekend motion got here as each side equipped for a second spherical of negotiations in Istanbul on Monday.

The 2 sides are anticipated to debate so-called “memoranda” — basically counter proposals outlining phrases for any future peace accord.

Writing on social media, Zelenskyy mentioned his priorities for the talks embrace a full and unconditional ceasefire, the discharge of prisoners and the return of kidnapped kids.

President Trump has been a robust advocate for the direct talks — saying their progress, or lack thereof, will do a lot to find out the way forward for U.S. engagement within the Ukraine battle.

At the same time as Trump has threatened sanctions in opposition to Moscow over its perceived slow-walking of the negotiations, he and his administration have additionally made clear they consider Ukraine ought to settle for it can not beat its bigger neighbor militarily and make concessions.

But if Moscow was seen as driving the phrases of negotiations, political observers in Moscow advised Ukraine’s shock drone operation had no less than undermined that dynamic for now.

“The Ukrainian delegation is headed to Istanbul clearly not feeling itself the ‘losing side of the war,’ wrote Moscow-based analyst Georgi Bovt in a publish to social media.

Bovt reminded that Trump as soon as informed the Ukrainians they “haven’t got the playing cards proper now” to negotiate a favorable end to the war.

“Apparently, they discovered them,” added Bovt.

NPR producer Hanna Palamarenko contributed to this report from Kyiv.