Ukraine Targets Key Russian Air Assets in Siberia and Northern Regions, Claims Major Strike

A day before the next round of peace talks, Ukraine asserted on Sunday that it struck and destroyed over thirty Russian strategic air platforms at several airbases deep in Russian-held territory, including as far off as Siberia and Murmansk.

This comes as reports indicate that European countries are coming closer to relaxing bans on Kyiv using long-range firepower.

The SBU described the attack as one of the largest drone raids so far against Russian air defense and released a statement stating: "Enemy strategic bombers are burning en masse in Russia."

The SBU highlighted that this was just part of "a large-scale special operation to destroy enemy bomber aircraft."

The BBC reports that a video has emerged purporting to depict a drone attack at Russia's Belaya airbase in the Irkutsk region, which is a remote part of the country thousands of kilometers from Ukraine.

While the Russian Ministry of Defense did not comment officially, regional officials in Siberia verified that drones had struck an army facility in the Irkutsk Region, which was described as the "first such attack in Siberia."

RT stated that Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said the incident had taken place close to the Sredny settlement, 150 kilometers from Lake Baikal and 70 kilometers from the city of Irkutsk. He also said that a drone hit an empty building in the neighboring village of Novomaltinsk.

Governor Kobzev said the drones seemed to have been flown from a small truck, although the number involved is not yet clear. Footage on social media—unconfirmed—shows at least three unmanned aerial vehicles taking part in the attack, RT reported.

Kobzev also promised that the launch site was secure and that there was "no threat to the lives and health of civilians." Emergency teams and police had been dispatched to deal with the consequences, he said.

While the governor stopped short of naming the source of the attack, Russian and Ukrainian media alike have blamed Kyiv as the most likely organizer, RT said.

Russian media also reported that the attack in Irkutsk coincided with another suspected drone strike in Russia's remote northern Murmansk Region. Officials there, however, confirmed the attack but said nothing else.

This latest round of drone attacks on Russia's strategic military targets comes on the eve of renewed peace talks to be held in Istanbul.