Ukraine strikes grounded Russian bombers in major drone assault
Ukraine said Sunday it destroyed Russian bombers worth billions of dollars in a "large-scale" drone assault on enemy soil as it geared up for talks with Moscow counterparts to explore prospects for a ceasefire.
In a spectacular claim, Ukraine said it damaged $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft parked at four airbases thousands of kilometres (miles) away, with unverified video footage showing aicraft engulfed in flames and black smoke.
A source in the Ukrainian security services said the drones were concealed in the ceilings of shipping containers which were opened up to release them for the assault.
The long-planned operation came at a delicate moment three years into Russia's invasion.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he was sending a delegation to Istanbul led by his Defence Minister Rustem Umerov for talks on Monday with Russian officials.
Turkey is hosting the meeting, which was spurred by US President Donald Trump's push for a quick deal to end the three-year war.
Zelensky, who previously voiced scepticism about whether Russia was serious in proposing Monday's meeting, said he had defined the Ukrainian delegation's position going into it.
Priorities included "a complete and unconditional ceasefire" and the return of prisoners and abducted children, he said on social media.
Russia has rejected previous ceasefire demands.
It said it has formulated its own peace terms but refused to divulge them in advance. Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out a Turkish proposal for the countries' leaders to attend the meeting.
Russian news agencies said the Russian delegation was headed to Istanbul on Sunday for the talks.
- Drone attacks inside Russia -
A source in Ukraine's SBU security service said the coordinated attacks inside Russia were "aimed at destroying enemy bombers far from the front".
Rybar, an account on the Telegram message platform that is close to the Russian military, called it a "very heavy blow" for Moscow and pointed to what it called "serious errors" by Russian intelligence.
The SBU source said strikes targeted Russian airbases in the eastern Siberian city of Belaya, in Olenya, in the Arctic near Finland, and in Ivanovo and Dyagilevo, both east of Moscow.
More than 40 aircraft had been hit at the Belaya base and a fire had broken out there, the source said, showing a video in which several aircraft could be seen in flames and black smoke rising.
AFP was not able to independently verify the claims or the video images.
The SBU claimed in a social media post to have hit Russian military planes worth a combined $7 billion in a "special operation".
Russia's defence ministry confirmed on Telegram that several of its military aircraft "caught fire", adding that there were no casualties and that several "participants" had been arrested.
Igor Kobzev, Governor of Russia's Irkutsk region, which hosts the targeted Belaya airbase, said it was "the first attack of this sort in Siberia".
He called on the population not to panic and posted an amateur video apparently showing a drone flying in the sky and a large cloud of grey smoke.
The governor of the Murmansk region where the Olenya base was located, Andrey Chibis, also said "enemy drones" were flying overhead, and anti-aircraft defences were operating.
Russia has been announcing Ukrainian drone attacks on a near-daily basis, usually saying they had all been shot down. But it was rare for such drone strikes to be reported so deep within its territory.
At the same time, Russia has been carrying out constant attacks on Ukraine.
On Sunday, Ukraine's air force said it was hit by 472 Russian drones and seven missiles overnight -- a record since the beginning of the invasion.
In a rare admission of its military losses, the Ukraine army said Russia's "missile strike on the location of one of the training units" had killed a dozen soldiers, most of whom had been in shelters during the attack, and wounded more than 60.
The attack led Ukrainian ground forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty to announce his resignation, saying he felt "responsibility" for the soldiers' deaths.
- Blasts fell bridges -
Separately on Sunday, the Russian army said it had captured another village in Ukraine's northern Sumy region, where Kyiv fears Moscow could mount a fresh ground assault.
Russia claims to have captured several settlements in the region in recent weeks, and has massed more than 50,000 soldiers on the other side of the border, according to Zelensky.
Authorities in the region have evacuated more than 200 villages amid intensified shelling.
In Russia, officials said a blast brought down a road bridge in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine on Saturday, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing seven people.
A separate rail bridge in the neighbouring Kursk region was blown up hours later in the early hours of Sunday, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver.
Authorities did not say who was behind the explosions, but investigators said a criminal inquiry was underway.
bur/rmb/djt/rlp
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
15 minutes ago
Bulgaria is close to joining the euro currency but faces disinformation and fear
SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Bulgaria is close to realizing its decades-old goal of joining the euro currency union and deepening ties with the more prosperous countries of Western Europe. But the government faces a populist backlash against the shared currency on the eve of a key decision by European Union authorities. Fears of inflation, poverty and the unknown are mingling with disinformation spread on social media that aims to turn people against the euro. The discontent tracks with increased support for populist and anti-EU parties across Europe, which is exploited by nationalist and pro-Russian politicians in a country that remains one of Europe's poorest and most afflicted with corruption. 'Adopting the euro will make us feel the threshold of poverty. After all, prices will be in euros,' said 78-year-old retiree Tanya Ignatova. 'Bulgaria is not ready for the euro. Someday we may be ready, but not now," said another retiree, Mario Georgiev. Several thousand people rallied against the euro in the capital on Saturday, urging a referendum on whether to transition from the lev currency to the euro. The head of the pro-Russian Varazhdane party, Kostadin Kostadinov, told the crowd that 'Bulgaria has risen and declared: Freedom, we choose the Bulgarian lev!' Others in Bulgaria say the country already benefits from EU membership and it does not matter what the currency is. "We have inflation now and we will have it in the future,' said 26-year-old Konstantin Bozhinov. Aiming at deepening European integration amid growing geopolitical tensions, the government is pressing ahead. It has asked for a review of whether it meets the requirements of low inflation, sound government finances and legal conformity to EU institutions. On Wednesday, the European Commission will announce the results. If the commission gives a green light, other member states will decide on Bulgaria's candidacy in the coming weeks. At the last review in 2022, Bulgaria failed on the inflation requirement. Inflation has since fallen. President Rumen Radev has encouraged the anti-euro voices by proposing a referendum on the currency, citing public concerns over inflation and purchasing power. That followed a protest in February that saw the offices of the EU's executive commission in Sofia spattered with red paint and its entrance set on fire. The president's proposal was turned down by the pro-European majority in parliament, which accused Radev of acting in favor of Russia with his last-minute attempt to sabotage the euro adoption. According to the EU's multi-country Eurobarometer survey released last week, 50% of Bulgarians are against the adoption of the euro, while 43% are in favor. In contrast, trust in the euro continues to grow across the rest of the EU. Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007. It has been plagued by political instability and corruption that have fueled euroscepticism among its 6.4 million citizens. Analysts say disinformation campaigns from abroad have fed fears of economic changes that could bring more poverty. Scores of false claims by opponents of the eurozone have been published on social networks. One claim says the EU plans to take away people's savings if they fail to spend them within a certain period. Another claims that plans to introduce a digital version of the euro are part of a plan to control everyone. 'There is a powerful brainwashing of the average Bulgarian. Illusory fears are being spread, lies are being told wholesale, unscrupulously and brazenly," said Ognyan Minchev, director of the Institute for Regional and International Studies in Sofia. Economists say joining the euro will not bring massive change to Bulgaria's economy in the short run. That's because the government has pegged the currency to the euro by law, at a fixed rate of 1 lev for every 51 euro cents. Joining the euro can bring lower borrowing costs, greater ease in comparing domestic and foreign prices and no need to exchange money when vacationing in another euro country. More than that, it's a sign of integration into the EU and its large economy. Members get a seat on the European Central Bank's interest rate-setting committee. Countries agree to join the euro when they join the EU, but so far 20 of 27 members have taken the step. Croatia was the last to join in 2023. Bulgaria's government has very little debt, at 24.1% of GDP — the second lowest in the EU and well below the 60% level in euro membership criteria. That's a sharp contrast to its neighbor, Greece, which entered the euro in 1999 with high debt that was concealed through complex financial transactions. Greece's broken finances eventually triggered a eurozone-wide crisis. Bulgaria's government has been 'fiscally super conservative ... the risk of Bulgaria becoming a fiscal risk to the eurozone is essentially zero,' said Zsolt Darvas, senior fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. Fears of inflation are not entirely without basis. Experience in other countries shows that 'whenever there is a changeover from national currency to the euro, there is often a minor inflation effect, but it's typically less than 1%,' said Darvas
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Healey insists defence funding will rise to 3% target to meet review aims
Defence Secretary John Healey insisted he was '100% confident' that military funding would increase as promised to prepare the armed forces for the future. The Strategic Defence Review recommended sweeping changes, including a greater focus on new technology including drones and artificial intelligence based on rising budgets. The Government has committed to increase spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product from April 2027 but only has an 'ambition' to reach 3% during the next parliament, which is due to end by around 2034. The authors of the review have suggested reaching that 3% target is vital to delivering their recommendations while US President Donald Trump has pushed for Nato allies to spend 5%. Mr Healey denied he was gambling on economic growth to meet his target, telling BBC Breakfast: 'I'm 100% confident that we'll hit that 3%. 'The important thing for now is what we can do, and we can do now more than we've been able to do before, because of an extra £5 billion the Chancellor has put in to the defence budget this year and the 2.5% that we will deliver three years earlier than anyone expected. 'It means that a £60 billion budget this year will rise throughout this parliament and beyond.' The Ministry of Defence announced a £5 billion investment in the 'kit of the future' following the publication of the review on Monday. The funding includes £4 billion for drones and autonomous systems, and an extra £1 billion for lasers to protect British ships and soldiers. A new era of threat requires a new era for defence. The Strategic Defence Review marks a landmark shift in our deterrence and defence ⬇️ — Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) June 2, 2025 Mr Healey said the investment would provide 'the most significant advance in UK defence technology in decades' and 'ensure our armed forces have the cutting-edge capabilities they need to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world'. Part of the investment will see the establishment of a new 'drone centre' to accelerate the deployment of the technology by all three branches of the armed forces. The focus on drones comes as the technology has proved increasingly lethal on the battlefield in Ukraine, where it now kills more people than traditional artillery. At a meeting of allied defence ministers in April, Mr Healey said the UK estimated drones were inflicting 70-80% of battlefield casualties, while on Sunday Ukraine launched a major attack on Russian airfields deep behind the front line using a fleet of small drones. In addition to investment in drones and AI, the Government has announced an additional £1 billion for the development of 'directed energy weapons' (DEWs) during the current parliament. This includes the DragonFire laser scheduled to be fitted to the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers from 2027, with a similar system provided for the Army by the end of the decade. DragonFire and other DEWs are intended to provide a lower-cost form of air defence against targets including drones, costing just £10 per shot compared with the thousands of pounds it costs to fire existing weapons.
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ukrainian attack causes blackouts in Russian-occupied territories, Moscow's proxies claim
A Ukrainian drone attack targeting energy infrastructure in Russian-occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts overnight on June 3 caused widespread blackouts, according to Russian occupation authorities. Yevhen Balytskyi, the Kremlin-appointed head of the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, claimed that 457 settlements in the region were left without power, affecting more than 600,000 homes. In neighboring Kherson Oblast, Moscow-installed proxy Volodymyr Saldo claimed that drone debris damaged substations near occupied Henichesk, as well as near Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, resulting in power outages across 150 settlements. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified. Kyiv's previous attacks on substations in Russia and Russian-occupied territories were aimed at undermining Moscow's ability to sustain its war effort. Situated in southern Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts have been partially occupied since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. The regions' centers, the cities of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, remain under Ukrainian control and are frequently targeted by Russian forces. A Russian FPV (first-person-view) drone attack targeted first responders near Vasylivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, injuring at least 12 people, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported. Read also: Russian propagandists split between downplaying devastating Ukrainian attacks and issuing threats We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
