Latest news with #Irkutsk
Times of Oman
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Ukraine conducts coordinated drone assault on Russian airfields, inflicts heavy losses
Moscow : The Russian Defence Ministry accused the Kiev regime of launching coordinated terrorist attacks using FPV (First-Person View) drones against multiple airfields across Russia, including those in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. According to a statement issued by the Russian Defence Ministry, all attacks on military airfields in Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions were successfully repelled without major damage. However, in Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, drones launched from areas in close proximity to airfields reportedly caused several aircraft to catch fire. The fires were brought under control, and there were no casualties among either military or civilian personnel. The ministry added that some participants in the attacks had been detained. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday claimed that Ukrainian armed forces had conducted a "brilliant operation" aimed "exclusively at military targets" inside Russian territory, resulting in what he termed as "justified and deserved" losses for Russia. In his national address, Zelenskyy thanked Ukraine's Security Service and everyone involved in the operation, stating that 117 drones were used. He revealed that the operation took more than a year and a half to prepare, with planning, organisation, and execution described as flawless. "Just now, I received a report from Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Vasyl Maliuk -- a brilliant operation was carried out. It took place on enemy territory and was aimed exclusively at military targets -- specifically, the equipment used in strikes against Ukraine," he said. "Russia suffered truly significant losses -- entirely justified and deserved." He further disclosed that the command office for the operation was located next to an FSB headquarters in one of the Russian regions. According to him, 34% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers stationed at air bases were hit, with Ukrainian personnel operating across multiple Russian regions and time zones. He also said that all operatives were safely withdrawn from Russian territory before the operation. "It is genuinely satisfying when something I authorized a year and six months ago comes to fruition and deprives Russians of over forty units of strategic aviation. We will continue this work," he added. Zelenskyy noted that prior to the operation, Ukrainian intelligence had information suggesting that Russia was preparing a massive strike. He urged citizens to heed air raid warnings, citing nearly 500 Russian attack drones launched recently and a fresh wave of Kalibr missile strikes from naval carriers. The President also reiterated Ukraine's willingness to end the conflict through dialogue, stating that the U.S. proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire has been on the table since March 11. "We offered the Russians a ceasefire... It was the Russians who chose to continue the war," he said, calling on the international community to increase pressure on Moscow through sanctions, diplomacy, and force. According to Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), the operation -- code-named "Spiderweb" -- marked the most ambitious series of drone strikes on Russian air bases since the war began in 2022. An SBU source claimed that over 40 aircraft were hit, including Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, and one of Russia's few remaining A-50 surveillance planes, CNN reported.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
Dozens of Russian warplanes destroyed in Ukrainian drone attack, claims Kyiv
Dozens of Russian military aircraft have been destroyed in an unprecedented Ukrainian drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia, Kyiv has said. The so-called 'Spider Web' operation, carried out by Ukraine's SBU security service, saw drones smuggled thousands of kilometres into Russian territory using lorries, before they were unleashed to destroy more than 40 warplanes, the SBU said. Russia confirmed that Ukraine attacked airfields across five regions, causing several aircraft to catch fire. 'The attacks occurred in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. Air defences repelled the assaults in all but two regions, Murmansk and Irkutsk,' Moscow's defence ministry said. Vladimir Putin will be 'infuriated' by the 'unprecedented' attack if it is as damaging as Kyiv claims, Russia expert John Lough told The Independent, describing it as a 'huge win' for Ukraine that will boost morale within the military. 'It's an embarrassment [for Russia]. It's just another humiliation at a moment where Putin is very keen to show the Americans in particular that Ukraine is losing, and [that] it's only a matter of time before the Russians roll them over,' said Mr Lough, head of foreign policy at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre. Around 18 months in the planning, Ukraine says the operation 'Spider Web' appears to have dealt a heavy blow to the aircraft used by Russian forces to launch long-range strikes on Ukrainian cities, including Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers. The attack came hours after Russian forces launched the biggest overnight air attack on Ukraine since its full-scale invasion three years ago, according to Kyiv's air force, which said 472 drones and seven missiles were fired. Volodymyr Zelensky also confirmed on Sunday that he would send a delegation for direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday, despite Moscow's refusal to heed Kyiv's calls for it to provide a promised memorandum setting out its demands for a ceasefire before the talks. The talks will begin at 10am UK time (1pm local time), a Turkish source said. One of the Russian air bases struck by Ukraine in the Irkutsk region is more than 4,000 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, an SBU source told The Kyiv Independent. 'This is unprecedented. They haven't been able to hit this number of aircraft on this scale, going to those regions of the country,' Mr Lough said. 'To go out to east Siberia is absolutely phenomenal.' Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst for the Black Bird Group, told The Independent that, if the scale of damage is verified, the attack is 'really, really significant'. Explosive-laden drones were hidden in the roofs of wooden sheds, which were then loaded onto trucks and driven to the perimeter of the air bases, according to a Ukrainian security official and images online. The roof panels of the sheds were lifted off by a remotely-activated mechanism, allowing the drones to fly out and begin their attack, the official said. The operation does not appear to have gone entirely to plan, Mr Kastehelmi said, explaining that it is 'very likely' that one or two of the trucks carrying the drones into Russia exploded before they could reach their targets. Meanwhile, seven people were killed and dozens injured after huge explosions caused two bridges to collapse and derailed two trains in western Russia overnight, officials said Sunday, without saying what had caused the blasts. The first bridge, in the Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, collapsed on top of a passenger train on Saturday, causing casualties. The train's driver was among those killed, state-run Russian Railways said. Hours later, officials said a second train derailed when the bridge beneath it collapsed in the nearby Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine. Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said explosions had caused the two bridges to collapse without giving more detail. Several hours later, it edited the statement to remove the words "explosions", but did not explain why.
CBC
15 hours ago
- General
- CBC
On eve of peace talks, Russia and Ukraine ramp up cross-border attacks
On the eve of peace talks, Ukraine and Russia sharply ramped up the war with one of the biggest drone battles of their conflict and an ambitious attack that was carried out on nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia. After days of uncertainty over whether or not Ukraine would even attend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would sit down with Russian officials at the second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. The first round of talks more than a week ago yielded the biggest prisoner exchange of the war — but no sense of any consensus about how to halt the fighting. Amid talk of peace, though, there was much war. Ukraine attacked Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers at a military base deep in Siberia on Sunday, a Ukrainian intelligence official said, the first such attack so far from the front lines more than 4,300 kilometres away. The official said the operation involved hiding explosive-laden drones inside the roofs of wooden sheds and loading them onto trucks driven to the perimeter of the air bases. A total of 41 Russian warplanes were hit, according to the official. Russia's Defence Ministry acknowledged on the Telegram messaging app that Ukraine had launched drone strikes against Russian military airfields across five regions on Sunday. It said the attacks repelled the assaults in all but two regions — Murmansk in the far north and Irkutsk in Siberia — where "the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire." The fires were extinguished without casualties. Some individuals involved in the attacks had been detained, the ministry said. Russia launched 472 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's air force said, the highest nightly total of the war so far. Russia had also launched seven missiles, the air force said. Russia said it had advanced deeper into the Sumy region of Ukraine, and open source pro-Ukrainian maps showed it had taken 450 square kilometres of Ukrainian land in May, its fastest monthly advance in at least six months. Negotiators to meet in Turkey U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Russia and Ukraine reach a peace deal and has threatened to walk away if they do not. This would potentially push responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers, which have far less cash and much smaller stocks of weapons than the United States. According to Trump envoy Keith Kellogg, the two sides will meet in Turkey to present their respective documents outlining their ideas for peace terms, though it is clear that after three years of intense war, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart. Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. The United States says over 1.2 million people have been killed and injured in the war since 2022. WATCH | Will Trump turn his back on the Russia-Ukraine war?: Will Trump turn his back on the Russia-Ukraine war? | About That 6 days ago Duration 11:49 U.S. President Donald Trump's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war has changed drastically over time — particularly in terms of how he frames Russian President Vladimir Putin. Andrew Chang breaks down Trump's criticism of Putin following Russia's latest attack by explaining what it may signal about how the U.S. proceeds. Images provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters. Trump has called Putin "crazy" and berated Zelenskyy in public in the Oval Office, but the U.S. president has also said he thinks peace is achievable and that if Putin delays then he could impose tough sanctions on Russia. In June last year, Putin set out his opening terms for an immediate end to the war: Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia. Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul will present to the Russian side a proposed roadmap for reaching a lasting peace settlement, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters. The document notes that there will be no restrictions on Ukraine's military strength after a peace deal is struck, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow's forces and reparations for Ukraine. The document also stated that the current location of the front line will be the starting point for negotiations about territory.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Ukraine conducts ‘large-scale' operation targeting Russian airbases, security source says
By Svitlana Vlasova, Victoria Butenko and Tim Lister , CNN Smoke rises in Russia's Irkutsk region following a reported Ukrainian drone attack on a nearby airbase, in this still image from a video published on Sunday (Ukraine time). Photo: CNN / Governor of Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev/ Handout via Reuters Ukraine has carried out large-scale drone strikes against a number of airbases deep inside Russia, destroying multiple combat planes, according to a source in the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). The attacks are the most ambitious simultaneous strikes on Russian airbases carried out by Ukraine since the war began. The SBU source said that Russian bombers were "burning en masse" at four airbases hundreds of miles apart, adding that drones had been launched from trucks inside Russia. More than 40 aircraft were known to have been hit, according to the source, including TU-95 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers and one of Russia's few remaining A-50 surveillance planes. The airfields targeted included Belaya in Irkutsk, some 4500km from Ukraine's border with Russia, and the Dyagilevo base in Ryazan in western Russia, about 520km from Ukraine, which is a training centre for Russia's strategic bomber force. The Olenya base near Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, more than 2000km from Ukraine, was also struck, according to the source, as well as the Ivanovo airbase, more than 800km from Ukraine. Ivanovo is a base for Russian military transport aircraft. Emergency service workers at the scene of a bridge collapse in Russia's Bryansk region on Sunday. The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed Ukraine had targeted Russian airfields across five regions on Sunday, calling the drone strikes "terrorist attacks." The ministry said strikes were repelled in the Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions but that "several pieces of aircraft" caught fire after attacks in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions. It added that the fires had since been extinguished. There were no casualties as a result of the attacks, the ministry continued, adding that "some participants in the terrorist attacks have been detained". The governor of Irkutsk region, Igor Kobziev, said that drones had been launched from a truck near the Belaya base. Kobziev said on Telegram that the exact number of drones deployed had not been determined. Emergency and security services were at the site, he added. SBU drones were targeting aircraft that bomb Ukrainian cities every night, the SBU source said - estimating the damage caused to the Russian side at more than US$2 billion (NZ$3.3b). One video supplied by the source purportedly shows the Belaya airfield in flames and the voice of the head of the SBU, Lt Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, commenting on the situation. "How beautiful Belaya airfield looks now. Enemy's strategic aircraft," he says. CNN was able to confirm the location of that video, as well as two others posted on social media showing smoke rising from the Belaya airbase. It was not immediately able to independently verify other videos provided by the SBU. The SBU source said that the operation was "extremely complicated from a logistical point of view," with the drones carried inside wooden mobile homes that had been carried into Russia on trucks. "The drones were hidden under the roofs of the houses, which were already placed on trucks. At the right moment, the roofs were remotely opened, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers." One video purportedly of one attack appears to show drones rising from a truck, as vehicles pass on a nearby highway. Another image shows the roof of the truck on the ground. The source added that people involved were already back in Ukraine. CNN's Frankie Vetch, Eve Brennan and Catherine Nicholls contributed to this report. - CNN
Al Jazeera
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Ukrainian drones target Russian airbases in unprecedented operation
Officials say multiple military airbases have come under drone attacks in Russia in a major operation taking place ahead of peace talks with Ukraine due to start in Istanbul on Monday. The Russian Defence Ministry said that Ukraine had launched drone strikes targeting Russian military airfields across five regions on Sunday, causing several aircraft to catch fire. The attacks occurred in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. Air defences repelled the assaults in all but two regions – Murmansk and Irkutsk, the ministry said. 'In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire,' the ministry said. The fires were extinguished and no casualties were reported. Some individuals involved in the attacks had been detained, the ministry said. Officials said that attacks targeted the Belaya airbase in Irkutsk, about 4,300km (2,700 miles) from the Ukrainian border, and the Olenya airbase in south Murmansk, some 1,800km (1,100 miles) from Ukraine. 'According to witnesses on the ground and local officials, these drones were launched from sites near the airbases. That means this was an elaborate operation, most likely by the Ukrainians, that involved a number of people inside Russia,' Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari said, reporting from Moscow. 'This is the single largest attack that we've seen in one day across multiple military airbases inside Russia since the war began in February of 2022,' Jabbari said, noting that the airbases are home to Russia's strategic air bombers, which have been used to attack targets across Ukraine over the past three years. Meanwhile in Ukraine, multiple local media reports, including those by state news agency Ukrinform, cited a source within the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) saying the coordinated attacks inside Russia were 'aimed at destroying enemy bombers far from the front'. They said the operation was carried out by the SBU using drones smuggled deep into Russia and hidden inside trucks. At least 41 Russian heavy bombers at four airbases were hit, the reports said, adding that the operation, dubbed 'Spiderweb', had been prepared for over a year and a half, and it was personally overseen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Al Jazeera's John Hendren, reporting from Kyiv, said it's 'an audacious strike, one that Ukraine has been waiting a long time and patiently to deliver, and it's come after Russian air strikes into Ukraine have dramatically accelerated over the past couple of weeks'. Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge in Russia's Bryansk region, neighbouring Ukraine, was blown up while a passenger train heading to Moscow was crossing it with 388 people on board. No one has yet claimed responsibility. Russian officials said they were treating the incident as an 'act of terrorism' but did not immediately accuse Ukraine. The developments came as Russia also said it had advanced deeper into the Sumy region of Ukraine, and as open-source pro-Ukrainian maps showed Russia took 450sq km (174sq miles) of Ukrainian land in May, its fastest monthly advance in at least six months. Moscow launched 472 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's Air Force said, the highest nightly total of the war so far. Russia had also launched seven missiles, the Air Force said. Both parties sharply ramped up their attacks as Ukraine confirmed it will send a delegation to Istanbul led by its Defence Minister Rustem Umerov for talks on Monday with Russian officials. Turkiye is hosting the meeting, which was spurred by US President Donald Trump's push for a quick deal to end the three-year war. Zelenskyy, who previously voiced scepticism about the seriousness of the Russian side in engaging in Monday's meeting, said he had defined the Ukrainian delegation's position on the talks. Priorities included 'a complete and unconditional ceasefire' and the return of prisoners and abducted children, he said on social media. Russia has said it has formulated its own peace terms, but refused to divulge them in advance. Russian President Vladimir Putin also ruled out a Turkish proposal for the meeting to be held at the leaders' level.
