XPost: soc.history.war.misc, alt.war.world-war-three, sci.military.naval
XPost: alt.economics

Huh. Wonder how many serious planes they really messed up?

from
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1ld7ppre9vo

Ukraine drones strike bombers during major attack in Russia
5 hours ago

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent
Jaroslav Lukiv
BBC News

1:28
Watch: Footage shows attack drones homing in on their targets as they
sit on the tarmac
Ukraine says it completed its biggest long-range attack of the war with
Russia on Sunday, after using smuggled drones to launch a series of
major strikes on at least 40 Russian warplanes at four military bases.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said 117 drones were used in the so-called "Spider's Web" operation by the SBU security service, striking "34% of [Russia's] strategic cruise missile carriers". SBU sources told BBC News
it took a year-and-a-half to organise the strikes.

Russia confirmed Ukrainian attacks in five regions, calling them a
"terrorist act".

The attacks come as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are heading to
Istanbul, Turkey, for a second round of peace talks on Monday.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian government's centre for
counteracting disinformation, said at least 13 Russian aircraft were
destroyed and others damaged.

The talks are expected to start around 13:00 local time (10:00 GMT) at
the Ciragan Palace.

Expectations are low, as the two warring sides remain far apart on how
to end the war.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported a massive drone and missile
attack on its territory over the weekend.

At least six people, including a seven-year-old child, were injured
following a strike in Kharkiv in the early hours of Monday, the region's governor said.

Elsewhere, Russia's state news agency Ria said the country's security
service thwarted an attempted arson attack in the east.

It said two residents in the Primorye region were attempting to sabotage
a railway track on Ukraine's orders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of
Ukraine in February 2022.

Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including
the southern Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014.

Ukraine's audacious drone attack sends critical message to Russia - and
the West
SBU sources earlier told BBC News Sunday's attack involved drones hidden
in wooden mobile cabins, with remotely operated roofs on trucks, brought
near the airbases and then fired "at the right time".

In several posts on social media late on Sunday, Zelensky said he
congratulated SBU head Vasyl Maliuk with the "absolutely brilliant
result" of the operation.

He said that each of the 117 drones launched had its own pilot.

"The most interesting thing - and we can already say this publicly - is
that the 'office' of our operation on Russian territory was located
right next to the FSB of Russia in one of their regions," the Ukrainian president said.

The FSB is Russia's powerful state security service.

Zelensky also said that all the people involved in the operation had
been safely "led away" from Russia before the strikes.

The SBU estimated the damage to Russia's strategic aviation was worth
about $7bn (£5bn), promising to unveil more details soon.

The Ukrainian claims have not been independently verified.

Sources in the SBU earlier on Sunday told the BBC in a statement that
four Russian airbases - two of which are thousands of miles from Ukraine
- were hit:

Belaya in Irkutsk oblast (region), Siberia
Olenya in Murmansk oblast, Russia's extreme north-west
Dyagilevo in central Ryazan oblast
Ivanovo in central Ivanovo oblast
The SBU sources said that among the hit Russian aircraft were strategic
nuclear capable bombers called Tu-95 and Tu-22M3, as well as A-50 early
warning warplanes.

They described the whole operation as "extremely complex logistically".

"The SBU first smuggled FPV drones into Russia, followed later by mobile
wooden cabins. Once on Russian territory, the drones were hidden under
the roofs of these cabins, which had been placed on cargo vehicles," the sources said.

"At the right moment, the roofs were remotely opened, and the drones
took off to strike the Russian bombers."

Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev confirmed drones that attacked the Belaya
military base in Sredniy, Siberia, were launched from a truck.

Kobzev posted on Telegram to say that the launch site had been secured
and there was no threat to life.

Russian media outlets have also reported that other attacks were
similarly started with drones emerging from the lorries.

One user is heard saying that the drones were flying out of a Kamaz
truck near a petrol station.

Russian media were reporting the attack in Murmansk but said air
defences were working. The attack in Irkutsk was also being reported.


SBU source A screenshot from footage purportedly showing drone attack on Russian warplanesSBU source
A screenshot from footage released by Ukraine purportedly showing a
drone attack on Russian warplanes
In a post on social media later on Sunday, the Russian defence ministry confirmed that airbases in the country's five regions were attack.

It claimed that "all attacks were repelled" on military airbases in the Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions. The latter base was not mentioned by
the SBU sources.

In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, "several aircraft caught fire"
after drones were launched from nearby areas, the ministry said.

It said all the blazes were extinguished and there were no casualties.
"Some of the participants in the terrorist attacks have been detained,"
it added.

A map shows the locations of four Russian air bases that sources in the
SBU told the BBC were hit.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities say 472 drones and seven ballistic
and cruise missiles were involved in a wave of attacks on Ukraine last
night.

This would appear to be one of the largest single Russian drone attacks
so far. Ukraine says it "neutralised" 385 aerial targets.

In a separate development, Ukraine's land forces said 12 of its military personnel were killed and more than 60 injured in a Russian missile
strike on a training centre.

Ukraine's head of land forces, Maj Gen Mykhailo Drapatyi, tendered his resignation shortly afterwards.

He said his decision was "dictated by my personal sense of
responsibility for the tragedy".


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Ukraine accuses Russia of undermining next round of peace talks

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