The Ukrainian security service carried out a large-scale attack on four Russian military air force bases on Sunday. The attacks took place thousands of kilometers from the front line. According to Ukraine, dozens of aircraft were destroyed.
Ukraine claims that 34 percent of the Russian bombers have been destroyed and that the damage for Russia amounts to billions. It would amount to 6.1 billion euros. A source within the Ukrainian security service SBU says that 41 aircraft were hit. Those aircraft would be used to “bomb Ukrainian cities.”
The source mentioned strategic bombers such as the Tu-95, the Tu-22, and the radar detection and command aircraft A-50. The Russian Ministry of Defense has only said that “several aircraft caught fire” after Ukrainian attacks. Russia is said to have repelled other attacks.
Russia says it has arrested some participants in the attacks, but Ukraine denies that. Among other things, it would concern the driver of a truck that was allegedly involved in the attack.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that the people who were involved in the preparation of the large attack “were withdrawn from Russian territory in time.”
The attacks were part of ‘Operation Spider Web’, the preparations for which would have taken a year and a half. The SBU says it will soon tell more about the operation. Zelensky already shared some details on Sunday evening. “Of course, we cannot reveal everything yet. But these are the Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly go down in the history books.”
The drones were smuggled into Russia to circumvent the Russian anti-aircraft guns. According to sources, the drones were hidden in Russia in wooden containers. The containers were loaded onto trucks, which were then parked near the air force bases. The roofs of the containers were opened with a remote control, after which the drones could attack the aircraft.
Zelensky says that 117 drones were used. The president also claims that the “office” of the operation was right next to a building of the Russian security service. That has not been independently verified.
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The United States was not informed in advance about the operation, a source within the American government reports to CBS. The White House has not yet reacted to the attacks.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations will meet in Istanbul on Monday to negotiate. It is the second time in just over two weeks that both countries will talk to each other without an intermediary. Yet the wishes are still far apart.