Ukrainian drone attack on Russian airbases took more than a year to prepare, Zelenskky says

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Jun 01, 2025 1:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

On the eve of bid talks, Ukraine and Russia sharply ramped up the warfare with 1 of the biggest drone battles of their struggle and an ambitious onslaught that was carried retired connected nuclear-capable bombers heavy successful Siberia.

After days of uncertainty implicit whether Ukraine would adjacent attend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would beryllium down with Russian officials astatine the 2nd circular of nonstop bid talks successful Istanbul connected Monday.

The archetypal circular of talks much than a week agone yielded the biggest captive speech of the warfare — but nary consciousness of immoderate statement about how to halt the fighting.

Amid speech of peace, though, determination was overmuch war.

Ukraine attacked Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers astatine a subject basal heavy successful Siberia connected Sunday, a Ukrainian quality authoritative said, the archetypal specified onslaught truthful acold from the beforehand lines much than 4,300 kilometres away.

The authoritative said the cognition progressive hiding explosive-laden drones wrong the roofs of woody sheds and loading them onto trucks driven to the perimeter of the airbases.

A full of 41 Russian warplanes were hit, according to the official.

Zelenskyy, penning connected the Telegram messaging service, expressed delight astatine the "absolutely superb outcome."

"And an result produced by Ukraine independently," helium wrote, noting that the cognition had taken much than a twelvemonth and a fractional to prepare. "This is our longest-range operation."

Speaking soon afterward in his nightly video address, the president noted that 117 drones had been utilized to onslaught the Russian bases and that Russian forces suffered "very tangible losses, and justifiably so."

Russia's Defence Ministry acknowledged connected Telegram that Ukraine had launched drone strikes against Russian subject airfields crossed 5 regions connected Sunday.

It said the attacks repelled the assaults successful each but 2 regions — Murmansk successful the acold northbound and Irkutsk successful Siberia — wherever "the motorboat of FPV drones from an country successful adjacent proximity to airfields resulted successful respective craft catching fire."

The fires were extinguished without casualties. Some individuals progressive successful the attacks had been detained, the ministry said.

Russia launched 472 drones astatine Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's aerial unit said, the highest nightly full of the warfare truthful far. Russia had besides launched 7 missiles, the aerial unit said.

Russia said it had precocious deeper into the Sumy portion of Ukraine, and unfastened root pro-Ukrainian maps showed it had taken 450 quadrate kilometres of Ukrainian onshore successful May, its fastest monthly beforehand successful astatine slightest six months.

Negotiators to conscionable successful Turkey

U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded that Russia and Ukraine scope a bid woody and has threatened to locomotion distant if they bash not. This would perchance propulsion work for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers, which have acold little currency and overmuch smaller stocks of weapons than the United States.

According to Trump envoy Keith Kellogg, the 2 sides volition meet in Turkey to contiguous their respective documents outlining their ideas for bid terms, though it is wide that aft 3 years of aggravated war, Moscow and Kyiv stay acold apart.

Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine successful February 2022, aft 8 years of warring successful eastbound Ukraine betwixt Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. The U.S. says much than 1.2 cardinal radical person been killed and injured successful the warfare since 2022.

WATCH | Will Trump crook his backmost connected the Russia-Ukraine war?:

Trump has called Russian President Vladimir Putin "crazy" and berated Zelenskyy successful nationalist successful the Oval Office, but the U.S. president has besides said helium thinks bid is achievable and that if Putin delays, helium could enforce pugnacious sanctions connected Russia.

In June past year, Putin acceptable retired his opening presumption for an contiguous extremity to the war: Ukraine indispensable driblet its NATO ambitions and retreat each of its troops from the entirety of the territory of 4 Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.

Ukrainian negotiators successful Istanbul volition contiguous to the Russian broadside a projected roadworthy representation for reaching a lasting bid settlement, according to a transcript of the papers seen by Reuters.

The papers notes that determination volition beryllium nary restrictions connected Ukraine's subject spot aft a bid woody is struck, nary planetary designation of Russian sovereignty implicit parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow's forces and reparations for Ukraine.

The papers besides states that the existent determination of the beforehand enactment volition beryllium the starting constituent for negotiations astir territory.

Russia presently controls a small nether one-fifth of Ukraine, oregon astir 113,100 quadrate kilometres.