A large-scale drone strike launched by Ukraine has targeted multiple military airfields deep inside Russian territory, destroying a significant number of strategic bombers in what officials described as the country\u2019s longest-range operation since the war began, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a series of statements on Sunday, President Zelenskyy credited Ukraine\u2019s Security Service (SBU) with carrying out the operation, dubbed \u201cSpider Web,\u201d describing it as the country\u2019s \u201cmost long-range\u201d mission to date. He said the strike had been in planning for more than a year and a half, and noted that Ukrainian teams involved in the operation were safely withdrawn from Russian territory ahead of its execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials, 34% of Russia\u2019s strategic cruise missile carriers were struck during the overnight operation. Targets included multiple Tu-95 bombers, as well as Tu-160 and Tu-22 aircraft across airbases in Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least four Tu-95s were confirmed destroyed at Olenya airbase, along with one An-12 transport aircraft, a Ukrainian source told journalist Michael Weiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyy also revealed that the covert \u201coffice\u201d managing the Ukrainian operation was positioned near a regional office of Russia\u2019s Federal Security Service (FSB). \u201cThese are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the drone attacks calling them \u201cterrorist acts\u201d done by the \u201cKyiv regime,\u201d claiming that several attacks were repelled and that no personnel were injured. However, the statement acknowledged that some aircraft caught fire in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions due to drones launched from nearby locations. Russian authorities said fires were extinguished and several suspects had been detained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The drone strike followed a series of alleged sabotage incidents hours earlier, including explosions that destroyed railway bridges in Russia\u2019s Bryansk and Kursk regions. At least seven people were killed and dozens injured after a passenger train derailed en route to Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian military intelligence also claimed responsibility for a separate rail explosion in occupied southern Ukraine, saying it disrupted a key military supply line toward Crimea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Zelenskyy said the latest drone operation would reinforce Ukraine\u2019s negotiating position ahead of a meeting in Istanbul on Monday. He outlined his delegation\u2019s goals as achieving a full ceasefire, the return of prisoners, and the repatriation of children taken from Ukraine. \u201cRussia started this war, Russia must end it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n