CNN
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According to sources from Ukrainian Security Services (SBU), Ukraine conducted massive drone strikes against many airspace deep within Russia, destroying multiple fighter jets.
The attack is the most ambitious simultaneous strike in Russian airspace, carried out by Ukraine since the start of the war.
SBU sources said the Russian bombers were “flanked in large quantities” on four air bases hundreds of miles away, adding that drones were fired from trucks in Russia.
More than 40 aircraft were known to have been hit, including the SUS-95 and TU-22M3 strategic bombers and one of Russia’s few A-50 surveillance aircraft.
The targeted airfields include approximately 4,500 km (2,800 miles) from Ukraine’s border with Russia, Diaguilevo Base in Riazan in western Russia, and approximately 520 km (320 miles) from Ukraine, approximately 520 km (320 miles) from Ukraine, approximately 520 km (320 miles) from Ukraine.
Sources say Ivanovo airspace over 800km (500 miles) from Ukraine, Orenia base near Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, over 2,000km (1,200 miles) has also been struck. Ivanovo is a base for Russian military transport aircraft.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that Ukraine targeted Russian airfields in five regions on Sunday, calling the drone strike a “terrorist attack.”
The ministry said strikes were repelled in Ivanovo, Riazan and Amur regions, but “several aircraft” sparked fires following attacks in Murmansk and Irkutsk regions. It added that the fire had disappeared.
There were no casualties as a result of the attack, the ministry continued, adding that “some participants in the terrorist attacks are in detention.”
Igor Kobziev, governor of the Irkutsk region, said the drone had been fired from a truck near Belaya base.
Kobziev said on Telegram the exact number of drones deployed has not been determined. Emergency and security services were on the site, he added.
The SBU drones were targeting aircraft that bomb Ukrainian cities every night, according to SBU sources, estimated that the damage caused to the Russian side was more than $2 billion.
One video provided by the source shows Belaya Airfield at Flames and Lieutenant General Vasyl Malyuk, the voice of the head of the SBU, has commented on the situation. “How beautiful is Bellaya Airfield now? A strategic aircraft from the enemy,” he says.
CNN was able to check the location of the video. Also, two other people posted on social media show that smoke has risen from Belaya Airbase. Other videos provided by SBU were not able to be immediately independently verified.
According to an SBU source, the operation was “very complicated from a logistics perspective,” and the drone was transported into a wooden mobile home, transported by truck to Russia.
“The drone was hidden under the roof of the house and was already placed in a truck. At the right time, the roof was opened far away and the drone hit a Russian bomber.”
As the vehicle passes through the nearby highway, one video of one attack appears to show rising from the truck. Another image shows the roof of a truck on the ground.
Sources added that the officials had already returned to Ukraine.
CNN’s Frankie Vetch, Eve Brennan and Katherine Nichols contributed to this report.
