Moscow:Ukraine on Sunday launched one of its largest drone-based operations on Russia to date, striking a base in eastern Siberia thousands of kilometres (miles) from its border. The Russian governor of the Irkutsk region confirmed the attack, saying Ukrainian remote-piloted aircraft attacked a military unit in the village of Sridni, the first such attack in Siberia.Ukrainian media reported that a large-scale special operation by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has struck “more than 40” Russian aircrafts at air bases in the “rear of the Russian Federation”. Citing officials, Reuters reported that the strikes conducted by the SBU had simultaneously hit four Russian military air bases on Sunday, including airfields at Olenya and Belaya.The aircraft destroyed in the attack include Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers, and at least one A-50, a report by Kyiv Independent claimed, citing sources.The attack is aimed at destroying enemy bombers far from the front, in Russia, news agency AFP reported, quoting a source, who added that a fire broke out at the targeted Belaya air base.If confirmed, the strikes would be the most damaging Ukrainian drone attack of the war, and would be a significant setback for Moscow.RT also shared a video of a drone attacking a military unit in Russia’s Irkutsk region. Army and civilian responders have already mobilised to tackle the threat, and the source of the drone launch has been blocked, according to an RT report.The operation has been launched under a special operation code-named “Pavutyna” – or “Web” – aimed at degrading Russia’s long-range strike capabilities, according to a Ukrainian publication, Pravda.Ukraine, which lacks Russia’s vast arsenal of missiles, has instead built up a large fleet of attack drones, which it has used to attack Russian military and oil facilities in the past as well. Russia had proposed a fresh round of talks in Istanbul on Monday, but Kyiv has thus far neither confirmed nor denied that it will be attending.
