Ukrainian forces carried out a massive drone attack targeting Russian bombers and other aircraft on Sunday, striking dozens of planes.
Source in the Security Service of Ukraine said that the agency carried out “a large-scale special operation” to destroy Russian bombers deep inside the country. They said that the attack drones hit at least 40 aircraft, including Beriev A-50 airborne early warning and control planes and Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-22M strategic bombers.
Video footage captured by a drone and obtained by BI shows a row of Russian bombers burning, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air.
At least two bombers in this footage, including the one struck, are covered in tires. Russia has used this tactic throughout the war in an apparent attempt to confuse Ukrainian weapons systems, like drones and missiles, that are looking for the aircraft.
“Enemy strategic bombers are burning en masse in Russia,” the SBU source shared in translated remarks. They said that Ukraine attacked four airbases across Russia and said Moscow’s losses amount to billions of dollars, adding that the number of damaged planes could increase.
The source said the operation, which was supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, involved more than a year and a half of planning and was “extremely complex from a logistical point of view.”
The SBU transported numerous small first-person-view (FPV) drones to Russia, along with what looked like wooden shipping crates. Once all the pieces were in the country, the drones were hidden in the crates, which were placed on trucks. On Sunday, the tops of the crates were remotely opened, and the drones flew out.
Zelenskyy celebrated the drone attack in an X post on Sunday.
“An absolutely brilliant result. A result achieved solely by Ukraine. One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution. Our most long-range operation,” Zelenskyy said. “Our people involved in preparing the operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time.”
Zelenskyy said he instructed the Security Service of Ukraine to share some details and results about the operation with the public.
“Of course, not everything can be revealed at this moment, but these are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books. Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so — we are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia started this war, Russia must end it.”
Russia’s defense ministry has yet to issue a public statement on the attack, nor did it respond to BI’s request for comment on the attack. The Russian embassy was also unresponsive.
The Tu-95 and Tu-22M strategic bombers have been used to launch missile strikes against Ukrainian targets. Russia’s attacks have intensified recently; Moscow launched more than 900 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles over just a three-day period in late May, officials said.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 472 attack drones and decoy drones — Moscow’s biggest bombardment with uncrewed systems so far. Kyiv said 385 enemy air vehicles were taken down.
The Ukrainian attack on Sunday marks Ukraine’s latest deep strike into Russia. Kyiv’s forces have repeatedly used domestically produced drones and missiles to hit airbases, ammunition depots, and weapons-making sites far behind enemy lines over the past year.
