Ukraine struck military airfields in five Russian regions, 'attacks repelled': Defence Ministry

Moscow, June 1 (IANS) Russia on Sunday acknowledged that its military airfields across the country had been attacked in a series of "kamikaze drone strikes" by Ukraine, but claimed that the "terrorist" attacks were "repelled" though there was some "material damage".

Military airfields across Russia have been attacked in a series of kamikaze drone strikes, the Defence Ministry said, RT reported.

Most of the strikes were successfully repelled, with some resulting in material damage, it added.

According to the ministry, airfields were targeted in the Murmansk Region in the country’s north, in Ivanovo and Ryazan regions in central Russia, as well as in Irkutsk Region in Siberia and Amur Region in the Far East, the ministry said.

All the attacks employed first-person view (PFV) kamikaze drones, with some of them being launched from territories in close proximity to the airfields, it said.

In a Telegram post, the Defence Ministry posted that Ukraine carried out what it said was a "terrorist attack" in the regions of Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur.

"As a result of the launch of FPV drones from the territory located in the immediate vicinity of airfields, several pieces of aviation equipment caught fire," it said, adding that the fires have now been extinguished.

Some of the culprits behind the attacks have been detained, the ministry said, without revealing the number of those arrested or their identities.

In Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions, the attacks were repelled and resulted in no damage or casualties, according to the ministry. In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, the strikes led to some aircraft catching fire, the military said. No casualties have been reported in any of the incidents, according to the ministry’s data, as per RT.

Earlier, Ukraine's security service, the SBU, in a statement, said: "Enemy strategic bombers are burning en masse in Russia."

Ukraine is conducting "a large-scale special operation aimed at destroying enemy bomber aircraft", it said. BBC quoted SBU sources as saying that the attack, codenamed "Spider's Web", took over a year to prepare and was personally overseen by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

As per reports, these airbases host strategic Russian aviation assets like strategic bomber TU-95s, supersonic long-range bomber TU-22M3s, and early warning and control aircraft A-50.

The attack came on the eve of the next round of peace talks between the two countries in Istanbul on Monday. While both sides have said that their respective delegations have left for the talks, what impact the latest attack, seen as a major escalation, will have on the negotiations remains to be seen. The airfield attack comes hours after two trains were derailed in two Russian regions, leading to the death of at least seven people and injuries to many others. Russian investigators have attributed both to sabotage.

--IANS

vd