Ukraine has carried out a major drone attack deep inside Russian territory, damaging or destroying military aircraft worth about $7 billion. The operation targeted airbases far from the battlefront and is being called one of the boldest actions in modern warfare. It happened just before Ukraine and Russia are set to meet for peace talks in Istanbul.
Ukrainian officials said on June 1 that the drone strike was a large-scale effort to take out Russian bombers. A source from Ukraine’s security service said that drones hit airbases in Belaya, located in Siberia, Olenya near the Finnish border, and also Ivanovo and Dyagilevo, which are east of Moscow. Belaya airbase reportedly suffered the worst damage, with over 40 aircraft hit and fires spreading across the facility.
Videos shared online showed aircraft in flames and thick black smoke rising into the air. While international media like AFP could not confirm the videos, Russia’s defense ministry admitted that several planes had caught fire and said suspects related to the attack had been detained.
The governor of Irkutsk, Igor Kobzev, said this was the first time a drone attack had happened in Siberia and told residents not to panic. In the Murmansk region, the governor said drones were seen flying overhead and that the region’s air defenses had responded.
This strike is different from past drone attacks because it reached deep inside Russian territory. Most earlier drone strikes were close to the front lines, but this one showed Ukraine’s improved long-range attack abilities.
At the same time, Ukraine faced a serious loss when a Russian missile hit a training unit, killing at least 12 Ukrainian soldiers and injuring more than 60 others. According to Ukraine’s military, most of those killed had been sheltering. After the attack, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Mykhailo Drapaty, resigned and accepted responsibility.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Defence Minister Rustem Umerov will lead Ukraine’s team at the ceasefire talks in Istanbul. Zelensky said Ukraine’s key goals are to stop the fighting, return prisoners of war, and bring back children taken by Russia. Although he expressed doubts about Russia’s honesty, he said Ukraine would attend the talks with clear demands.
Russia has also agreed to send a team to the Istanbul talks, though it has not shared what it plans to ask for. President Vladimir Putin rejected Turkey’s suggestion to hold the talks at the level of national leaders.
Fighting continued elsewhere, with Russia claiming to have captured another village in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, where over 50,000 Russian troops are reportedly gathered. Zelensky warned that Russia may be preparing for another major attack in that area. Ukrainian officials have already evacuated more than 200 villages to keep people safe.
Inside Russia, two bridge collapses were reported over the weekend. In Bryansk, an explosion destroyed a road bridge, causing a train crash that killed seven people. Hours later, another explosion damaged a railway bridge in the Kursk region, causing a freight train to derail and injuring the driver. Russian authorities are treating both incidents as acts of terrorism and have launched investigations.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched the largest wave of aerial attacks since the war began, using 472 drones and seven missiles in one night. This record-breaking attack adds to the rising tension.
These latest developments show how quickly the war is escalating, even as both Ukraine and Russia prepare for peace talks that could decide the next steps in the conflict.
