Overview
- Ukrainian officials said FPV drones launched from hidden trucks struck 41 bombers at airfields including Belaya in Irkutsk Oblast, more than 4,000 km from Ukraine’s border.
- The Security Service of Ukraine reported the complex operation took over 18 months to plan, destroyed about 34 percent of Russia’s air missile carriers and caused an estimated $7 billion in losses.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed fires at air bases in Irkutsk and Murmansk and said it repelled incursions in the Amur, Ivanovo and Ryazan regions.
- In retaliation, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a record 472 drones and seven missiles, and a Russian strike on a training unit killed at least 12 soldiers and wounded more than 60.
- Ukraine’s delegation, led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, is set to meet Russian counterparts in Istanbul on June 2 for a fresh round of peace negotiations.