A first far from the front. Ukraine performs an “magnitude” operation on Sunday, June 1 against military aviation in Russia, and notably affected a base in East Siberia to thousands of kilometers from its borders, said a source in the security services of Ukraine (SBU).
Russia has confirmed in the process that several of its military planes had “burned” on a vast attack of Ukrainian drones, saying that it has arrested suspects.
“In the regions of Mourmansk and Irkutsk, several appliances caught fire after the launch of FPV drones of a territory in the vicinity of the airfields,” wrote the Russian Ministry of Defense in Telegram, and added that these attacks had not made victims and that the “participants” had been arrested.
One of the military bases that would have been affected by Ukraine is the Belaïa airfield, in the Eastern Siberian Irkutsk region, about 4,300 kilometers from Ukraine. Russian local authorities have confirmed a drone strike in the area, not to mention this base. It would be the first attack so far from the front.
Ukraine regularly sends Drones to Russia, in response to Russian air attacks almost quasi-quota against their territory, but it is rare that they manage to play such a distance. Russian and Ukrainian delegations are Expected in Istanbul Monday for a new cycle of negotiations, more than three years after the beginning of the Russian invasion.
41 damaged Russian devices
A source in Ukraine security services (SBU) said it was a “special special operation”, prepared for a long time and aimed at four military airfields in Russia. The source said that 41 Russian airplanes had been damaged, ensuring that they were used to hit Ukrainian cities.
He joined a video that is supposed to show the base of Belaïa, in which we can see several flame devices, black smoke feathers. The AFP cannot verify these statements independently, but the Russian authorities have mentioned attacks.
However, the governor of the Irkoutsk region, Igor Kobzev, spoke on Sunday a “drone attack” against the village of Sredniï, right next to the Belaïa base.
“This is the first attack of this type in Siberia,” he said, asking the population not to “give in panic.”
He published a video, which seemed to have been recorded by residents, showing a drone in the sky and an important cloud of gray smoke in the distance. The Ukrainian source said the attack had addressed the Olenia airfield, located in the Mourmansk region, in the Russian Arctic, almost 1,900 kilometers from Ukraine.
The governor of the Mourmansk region, Andrei Tchibis, said that the “enemy drones” were in heaven and that the anti -avion defense was working.
Conversations in Istanbul
This operation arrives on the eve of the expected negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Türkiye, proposed by Moscow. After having left doubts about Ukrainian participation, President Volodymyr Zelensky finally announced on Sunday that it is said that a Ukrainian delegation, directed by its Minister of Defense, Roustem Oumerov, is in Istanbul on Monday.
The priorities of Ukraine are to obtain “a high full and unconditional fire”, as well as the “return of the prisoners” and the Ukrainian children that kyiv accuses Moscow of having kidnapped, he added.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations have already held conversations in Istanbul on May 16, to end the war launched by the Russian invasion of February 2022. But the appointment had not been very fruitful, the two countries agreed only an exchange of prisoners. Despite diplomatic efforts, the positions of Ukraine and Russia remain irreconcilable.
Russia requires in particular that Ukraine definitely renounces NATO and sell it the five regions whose annexation states. These conditions are unacceptable for kyiv, which requires a pure and simple withdrawal of the Russian troops of its territory in return. Moscow also rejects the high unconditional fire requested by Kyiv, Washington and the Europeans.
Volodymyr Zelensky also called Sunday to “prepare a meeting at the highest level”, that is to say with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has already proposed to Vladimir Putin a meeting, but the Kremlin teacher did not follow up. The Ukrainian army also announced that 12 of its soldiers had been killed and more than 60 injured by a Russian strike in a training field. The Ukrainian army is in a difficult position in the front, facing better armed and more russian troops.
On Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Defense still claimed to take a small town in the Soumy region, in the northeast of Ukraine. Ukraine fears a new offensive in this region.
Source: BFM TV
