Large-scale Ukrainian attack targets air bases in Russia, authorities say
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The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive intelligence operation, said that dozens of aircraft were damaged. It was not immediately possible to independently confirm that claim, but Russian military bloggers were quick to opine on what appeared to be a significant failure of defenses.
'Today will later be called a black day for Russian long-range aviation,' read a post on the Telegram channel called Fighterbomber, which is believed to be run by Capt. Ilya Tumanov of the Russian army. It added: 'And the day is not over yet.'
The deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, Iryna Vereshchuk, said that the security services had 'set a new bar of skill in conducting large-scale combat operations on enemy territory.'
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'This is not a knockout, but a very serious knockdown for the enemy,' she wrote on Telegram.
Earlier Sunday, Ukraine's military said that a Russian missile attack on a training base killed at least 12 soldiers and wounded more than 60 others -- a rare statement acknowledging casualties within its ranks.
The commander of Ukraine's ground forces, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, submitted his resignation after the attack on the base, in the Dnipro region, saying in a statement that he felt a 'personal sense of responsibility for the tragedy.'
'An army in which commanders bear personal responsibility for the lives of their people is alive. An army where no one is held accountable for losses dies from within,' he said.
Ukraine's military said it was investigating the circumstances, but emphasized that there was not a mass gathering at the time of the strike -- an apparent attempt to demonstrate lessons learned from previous incidents.
'At the time the air-raid alert was announced, all personnel were in shelters, except for those who may not have had time to reach it,' Vitalii Sarantsev, a spokesperson for Ukraine's ground forces, said in an interview with Ukrainian news media.
Ukraine's military does not typically disclose official casualty figures, which are treated as a state secret and are a highly sensitive topic in the country. Past attacks with large numbers of military casualties -- like when a Russian missile killed soldiers gathered for an awards ceremony in southern Ukraine in late 2023 -- have raised questions about security protocols.
The dueling attacks came on the eve of another round of peace talks in Istanbul, proposed by Moscow. While Ukraine had insisted it see a promised memorandum outlining Russia's ceasefire terms before sending any officials to the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that his country would in fact send a delegation.
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He did not say whether Ukraine had received the memorandum. In a post on social media, Zelenskyy said only that he had met with senior leadership and 'defined our positions' before the talks Monday in Istanbul, where Defense Minister Rustem Umerov would lead Ukraine's delegation.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of stalling for time in the negotiations.
Hours before the strike on the military training base, Russia launched what Ukrainian officials said was the largest combined overnight aerial assault on the country since the start of the war.
Ukraine's air force said that Russia launched 472 drones and seven missiles overnight. It said that the majority of the drones and three of the incoming missiles were intercepted, but that at least 18 targets were struck. While the air force did not provide further details on what was struck, local officials in the Kyiv region said that at least 10 homes had sustained damage. Local authorities also reported damage in the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine and in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
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Boston Globe
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A 'profoundly alarming moment for Europe' Trump's seemingly public rehabilitation of Putin — a pariah in most of Europe — has unnerved Ukraine's backers. The summit in Alaska is a 'profoundly alarming moment for Europe,' said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. According to Gould-Davies, Putin might persuade Trump to try to end the war by 'accepting Russian sovereignty' over parts of Ukraine, even beyond areas that it currently occupies. Trump also could ease or lift sanctions which are causing 'chronic pain' to the Russian economy. That would provoke a 'really serious split in the transatlantic alliance,' he said. 7 Residents carry sheets of plywood to cover broken windows in a heavily damaged residential building following a Russian strike in the town of Bilozerske, Donetsk region on August 12, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP via Getty Images The war isn't about Russia's territorial expansion but about Putin's goal of subordinating Ukraine, which would create the opportunity to threaten other parts of Europe, Gould-Davies said. It was unclear whether the Europeans also were unsettled by Trump mistakenly saying twice he would be traveling to Russia on Friday to meet Putin. The summit is taking place in the US state of Alaska, which was colonized by Russia in the 18th century until Czar Alexander II sold it to the US in 1867. Tuesday's European joint statement was meant to be a demonstration of unity. But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is Putin's closest ally in Europe and has tried to block EU support for Ukraine, was the only one of the bloc's 27 leaders who refused to endorse it. Russia closes in on Pokrovsk Russia appeared closer to taking an important city in the Donetsk region, Pokrovsk. Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles said the next 24-48 hours could be critical. Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important victory ahead of the summit. It also would complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of military efforts. 7 A woman walks past a heavily damaged residential building following a Russian strike in the town of Bilozerske, Donetsk region on August 12, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP via Getty Images 'A lot will depend on availability, quantity and quality of Ukrainian reserves,' Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, wrote on social media late Monday. Ukraine's military said its forces are fending off Russian infantry units trying to infiltrate their defensive positions in the Donetsk region. The region's Ukrainian military command on social media Monday acknowledged that the situation remains 'difficult, unpleasant and dynamic.' Elsewhere in Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on a military training facility left one soldier dead and 11 others wounded, the Ukrainian Ground Forces posted on social media.
