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Ukraine says it completed its biggest long-range attack of the war with Russia on Sunday, after using smuggled drones to launch a series of major strikes on 40 Russian warplanes at four military bases.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said 117 drones were used in the so-called “Spider’s Web” operation by the SBU security service, striking “34 percent of [Russia’s] strategic cruise missile carriers”.
SBU sources told BBC News it took a year-and-a-half to organise the strikes.
Russia confirmed Ukrainian attacks in five regions, calling them a “terrorist act”.
The attacks come as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are heading to Istanbul, Turkey, for a second round of peace talks on Monday.
The talks are expected to start around 13:00 local time (10:00 GMT) at the Ciragan Palace.
Expectations are low, as the two warring sides remain far apart on how to end the war.
Read more: Putin proposes direct talks with Ukraine as Europe issues ceasefire ultimatum
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported a massive drone and missile attack on its territory over the weekend.
At least six people, including a seven-year-old child, were injured following a strike in Kharkiv in the early hours of Monday, the region’s governor said.
Elsewhere, Russia’s state news agency Ria said the country’s security service thwarted an attempted arson attack in the east.
It said two residents in the Primorye region were attempting to sabotage a railway track on Ukraine’s orders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow currently controls about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, including the southern Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014.
SBU sources earlier told BBC News Sunday’s attack involved drones hidden in wooden mobile cabins, with remotely operated roofs on trucks, brought near the airbases and then fired “at the right time”.
In several posts on social media late on Sunday, Zelensky said he congratulated SBU head Vasyl Maliuk with the “absolutely brilliant result” of the operation.
He said that each of the 117 drones launched had its own pilot.
“The most interesting thing – and we can already say this publicly – is that the ‘office’ of our operation on Russian territory was located right next to the FSB of Russia in one of their regions,” the Ukrainian president said.
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