Ukraine says it hit dozens of Russian bombers in daring drone attack

KYIV — The Security Service of Ukraine sent a barrage of drones to attack four military airfields in Russia on Sunday, hitting 41 of Moscow's strategic bombers, an official with the service told POLITICO.

The daring attack came the day before the next round of Russia-Ukraine negotiations is set to take place in Istanbul.

"Russia’s military planes are currently burning at the Belaya, Diaghilev, Olenya and Ivanovo airfields," said the official from the service, also known as the SBU.

SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk "personally curated the operation," the official told POLITICO, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.

"Thanks to Malyuk ... Russia has now understood the true meaning of the word demilitarization,” the official said.

The official showed a video of Russian bombers burning at one of the airfields that could not be independently verified.

“Today will later be called the dark day of Russia's long-range aviation,” Russian military aviation blogger Ilya Tumanov, known as Fighterbomber, said in a Telegram post. “And the day is not over yet.”

The SBU official said that to prepare for the operation, called "Pavutyna"(web), Ukrainian operatives delivered FPV drones to Russia territory along with mobile wooden housings.

"Later, in the Russian Federation, the drones were hidden under the roofs of housings, already placed on trucks. At the right moment, the roofs of the housings were opened remotely, and the drones flew to strike the Russian bombers," the official said.

The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the drone attacks on its airfields, but claimed that bombers were hit on only two airfields, in the Irkutsk and Murmansk regions. Attacks on military airfields in the Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions were repelled, the ministry said in a statement on Telegram. No military  or civilian personnel were hurt, it said.

Russia has been using Olenya and other airfields to attack Ukraine with missiles and drones.

On Sunday, a Russian missile hit one of the training grounds of Ukraine’s Land Forces, killing 12 people and injuring more than 60 others, the Land Forces said in a statement. “A commission has been created and an internal investigation has been" launched regarding the attack, the statement said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Sunday that Kyiv is sending a delegation to ceasefire talks with Russia in Istanbul on Monday. The team will be led by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha‎ early Sunday said Kyiv was still waiting for a promised Russian memorandum on Moscow’s outline of a potential ceasefire framework, which Ukraine is expecting before the talks.

"While Russia claims to be preparing for meetings to discuss peace, what it actually does is attack, terrorize and destroy," Sybiha said in a post on X. "Russia has not so far sent us, Türkiye, the United States, or anyone else its so-called 'memorandum.' No one even knows what they are going to talk about," he said.

The Kremlin has said it would share its memorandum during Monday's talks.