The heavy attacks came from all sides as Kiev and Moscow each sought to protect themselves from a position of strength.
Ukraine Strikes Deep into Russia, Destroys Bombers Ahead of Ceasefire Talks. Ukraine said on Sunday it had launched a “large-scale” strike to destroy Russian bombers as it prepared to hold talks with Moscow’s counterparts in Istanbul to explore the possibility of a ceasefire.
The stunning claim that Ukraine caused $2 billion worth of damage to Russian aircraft stationed at an airbase thousands of kilometers (miles) away came as Kyiv announced that a Russian military strike had killed at least 12 soldiers at an army training site, prompting the resignation of its ground forces commander.
Russia also said two bridges that collapsed in areas bordering Ukraine were blown up by explosions. Authorities were treating them as “acts of terrorism” but did not immediately blame Ukraine.
The development follows a Russian ground advance in recent days in the Ukrainian border region of Simferopol, and both sides have punished each other with air strikes.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he was sending a Ukrainian delegation led by his Defense Minister Rustam Umarov to Istanbul for talks with Russian officials.
Turkey is hosting the meeting, which was prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for an immediate deal to end the three-year war.
Zelensky, who had previously expressed doubts about the seriousness of the Russian side in proposing Monday’s meeting, said he had explained the Ukrainian delegation’s position on going to it.
He said on social media that priorities included a “complete and unconditional ceasefire” and the return of prisoners and kidnapped children.
Russia has said it has set its own terms for peace but has refused to tell them in advance. Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected Turkey’s proposal for a leaders-level meeting.
Russian news agencies say the Russian delegation traveled to Istanbul for talks on Sunday.
Drone strikes inside Russia
The heavy attacks came from all sides as Kiev and Moscow each sought to protect themselves from a position of strength.
A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service said the coordinated strikes inside Russia were aimed at “destroying enemy bombers from the front”.
The sources said the Russian air bases in the eastern Siberian city of Belyay, in Oleny, in the Arctic near Finland, and in Ivanovo and Diaghilev, east of Moscow, were targeted.
More than 40 aircraft were shot down at the Belyay base, and fires broke out there, the sources said, showing a video showing several planes billowing with flames and black smoke.
AFP was not able to independently verify the claims or the video images.
But the governor of Russia’s Irkutsk region, which hosts Belyay airbase, spoke of a “drone strike” against a village adjacent to the airbase.
“This is the first attack of its kind in Siberia,” said Governor Igor Kobzev, urging the public not to panic. He posted an amateur video that apparently showed a drone flying in the sky, and a large cloud of gray smoke.
The governor of the Murmansk region, where the Olya base was located, Andrey Chebs, also said that “enemy drones” were flying overhead, and that anti-aircraft defenses were working.
Russia has been announcing Ukrainian drone strikes on an almost daily basis, usually saying that all of them had been shot down. But such drone strikes so deep into its territory have been rare.
At the same time, Russia has been carrying out a series of strikes on Ukraine.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had been hit by 472 Russian drones and seven missiles overnight, a record since the invasion began.
In a rare admission of its military losses, the Ukrainian military said a dozen soldiers were killed in a Russian “missile strike on the location of a training unit,” most of whom were in shelters during the attack.
“As of 12:50 p.m. (0950 GMT), 12 people were known to have been killed and more than 60 wounded,” it said.
The attack led to the resignation of Ukrainian ground forces commander Mykhailo Dropati, who said he felt “responsibility” for the deaths of the soldiers.
The explosions caused a bridge to collapse
Separately on Sunday, the Russian military said it had captured another village in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, where Kiev fears Moscow could launch a new ground offensive.
According to Zelensky, Russia has claimed to have captured several settlements in the region in recent weeks, and has amassed more than 50,000 troops on the other side of the border.
Authorities in the region have evacuated more than 200 villages amid heavy shelling.
Back in Russia, authorities said a road bridge in the Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine, was blown up on Saturday, derailing a Moscow-bound passenger train and killing seven people.
A separate rail bridge in the neighboring Kursk region was blown up hours later early Sunday, derailing a freight train and injuring the driver.
Authorities did not say who was behind the explosions, but investigators said a criminal investigation was underway.
