Zelensky hails 'brilliant success' in attacking Russian airfields

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has celebrated the surprise attack by his intelligence service, the SBU, on several Russian military airfields as an "absolutely brilliant success."

He said this was Ukraine's most far-reaching operation in the course of the war so far. "One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective implementation," Zelensky wrote on the platform X on Sunday evening. He instructed the intelligence service to inform the public about part of the operation.

The SBU attacked several Russian military airfields in a coordinated action, claiming to have destroyed over 40 combat and reconnaissance aircraft. According to the SBU, about 34% of the Russian bombers capable of launching cruise missiles were destroyed. The SBU estimated the value of the damaged or destroyed bombers at $7 billion.

The information has not been independently verified.

The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed the drone attack early Sunday evening, describing them as "terrorist attacks" on military airfields in the regions of Ivanovo, Ryazan, Amur, Murmansk and Irkutsk.

The attacks in the regions of Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur were repelled, Moscow said. In the regions of Murmansk and Irkutsk, "some" aircraft caught fire due to drone attacks, but the Russian Ministry of Defence downplayed the impact of the attacks. The fires were extinguished, it said, adding that there were no injuries among military personnel or civilians.

The agents involved in the operation have already returned to Ukraine, according to the SBU and Zelensky. If Russia reports arrests, this claim "only serves the domestic audience," the SBU said.

Early Sunday evening, Russian security forces were cited by the state news agency TASS as saying that some participants had been arrested.