Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday praised the drone strike deep inside Russia, calling it a “brilliant result” and an important moment in the war.The operation, over a year and a half in the making, targeted several Russian military airfields, destroying more than 40 aircraft, including bombers and surveillance planes. It marked what Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) called the most extensive strike yet on Russian soil, carried out entirely by Ukrainian forces.“An absolutely brilliant result. A result achieved solely by Ukraine.” Zelenskyy posted on social media platform X.“Our most long-range operation,” he said, adding “Our people involved in preparing the operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time.”Thanking General Vasyl Maliuk, the head of Ukraine’s Security Service, Zelenskyy said the success would be remembered as a defining chapter in the war, “these are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books.”The mission, called Operation Spider Web, reportedly destroyed 41 Russian planes, including strategic Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-22M bombers, aircraft frequently used by Moscow to launch missile attacks on Ukraine. Also hit was the A-50, a critical airborne early warning system used to coordinate missile strikes.According to a senior Ukrainian military official speaking to the AP, the operation was “extremely complex”. Ukraine’s Security Service said the operation caused an estimated $7 billion in damage and destroyed 34% of Russia’s fleet of air missile carriers. However, these claims have not been independently verified.Zelenskyy also said that 117 drones were deployed in the massive attack.“A total of 117 drones were used in the operation. And a corresponding number of drone operators worked,” Zelensky said in a statement, quoted by AFP.The Russian defence ministry confirmed attacks on bases in Irkutsk and Murmansk, more than 4,000 km from Ukraine, and said other strikes had been repelled in Amur, Ivanovo, and Ryazan.The drone strike came just ahead of a new round of direct peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul on Monday. “Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so,” Zelenskyy said. “we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war. Russia started this war, Russia must end it. Glory to Ukraine!”
