Security Service of Ukraine chief Maliuk on Monday officially confirmed that 41 aircraft were hit in Russia and among them are A-50s, Tu-95s, Tu-22M3s, and Tu-160s. He said in total, 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers have been damaged or destroyed and the estimated value of the affected strategic aviation exceeds $7 billion.
Ukrainian drone attack destroyes more than 40 Russian planes
Ukraine's Security Service on Sunday had said that a Ukrainian drone attack destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russia's territory, while Moscow pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones just hours before a new round of direct peace talks in Istanbul.
A military official, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to disclose operational details, said the far-reaching attack took more than a year and a half to execute and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy says 117 drones were used in the operation
In his evening address, Zelenskyy said that 117 drones had been used in the operation. He claimed the operation had been headquartered out of an office next to the local FSB headquarters. The FSB is the Russian intelligence and security service.
The military source said it was an "extremely complex" operation involving the smuggling of first-person view, or FPV, drones to Russia, where they were then placed in mobile wooden houses.
"Later, drones were hidden under the roofs of these houses while already placed on trucks.
At the right moment, the roofs of the houses were remotely opened, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers," the source said.
Social media footage shared by Russian media appeared to show the drones rising from inside containers while other panels lay discarded on the road. One clip appeared to show men climbing onto a truck in an attempt to halt the drones.
Drones hit 41 planes stationed at military airfields
The drones hit 41 planes stationed at military airfields on Sunday afternoon, including A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22M aircraft, the official said.
Moscow has previously used Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-22 long-range bombers to launch missiles at Ukraine, while A-50s are used to coordinate targets and detect air defences and guided missiles.
The Security Service of Ukraine said that the operation, which it codenamed “Web”, had destroyed 34% of Russia's fleet of air missile carriers with damages estimated at $7 billion. The claim could not be independently verified.
Russia's Defense Ministry, in a statement, confirmed the attacks, which damaged aircraft and sparked fires on air bases in the Irkutsk region, more than 4,000 km (2,500 miles) from Ukraine, as well as the Murmansk region in the north, it said.
Strikes were also repelled in the Amur region in Russia's Far East and in the western regions of Ivanovo and Ryazan, the ministry said.
(With inputs from AP)
