Ukraine destroyed more than 40 military aircraft in a drone attack deep inside Russia, official says

By SAMYA KULLAB KYIV Ukraine A Ukrainian drone attack has destroyed more than Russian planes deep in Russia s territory a Ukrainian assurance official explained The Associated Press on Sunday while Russia pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones a day before the two sides meet for a new round of direct talks in Istanbul The official who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose operational details reported the attack took over -year to execute and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy The operation saw drones transported in containers carried by trucks deep into Russian territory he announced The drones reportedly hit planes stationed at several airfields on Sunday afternoon including A- Tu- and Tu- M aircraft the official revealed Moscow has previously used Tupolev Tu- and Tu- long-range bombers to launch missiles at Ukraine while A- s are used to coordinate targets and detect air defenses and guided missiles Russia s Defense Ministry in a comment verified the attacks which spanned five airfields The FPV drones damaged aircraft and sparked fires on air bases in the Irkutsk region more than kilometers miles from Ukraine as well as Russia s northern Murmansk it announced Strikes were repelled in the Amur region in Russia s Far East and in the western regions of Ivanovo and Ryazan the ministry disclosed The attack came the same day as Zelenskyy declared Ukraine will send a delegation to Istanbul for a new round of direct peace talks with Russia on Monday In a declaration on Telegram Zelenskyy revealed that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will lead the Ukrainian delegation We are doing everything to protect our independence our state and our people Zelenskyy declared Ukrainian agents had previously called on the Kremlin to provide a promised memorandum setting out its position on ending the war before the meeting takes place Moscow had announced it would share its memorandum during the talks Russian strike hits an army unit Russia on Sunday launched the biggest number of drones on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in February Ukraine s air force announced Russian forces also launched seven missiles alongside the barrage of drones disclosed Yuriy Ignat head of communications for the air force Earlier Sunday Ukraine s army stated at least Ukrainian operation members were killed and more than were injured in a Russian missile strike on an army training unit The strike occurred at p m the declaration noted emphasizing that no formations or mass gatherings of personnel were being held at the time Ukrainian army commander Mykhailo Drapatyi later Sunday submitted his resignation following the attack He was a respected commander whose leadership saw Ukraine regain land on the eastern front for the first time since Kyiv s counteroffensive The training unit was located to the rear of the -kilometer -mile evolving front line where Russian reconnaissance and strike drones are able to strike Ukraine s forces lack troops and take extra precautions to avoid mass gatherings as the skies across the front line are saturated with Russian drones looking for targets Northern pressure Russia s Ministry of Defense commented Sunday that it had taken control of the village of Oleksiivka in Ukraine s northern Sumy region Ukrainian officials in Sumy ordered mandatory evacuations in more settlements Saturday as Russian forces make steady gains in the area Speaking Saturday Ukraine s top army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi disclosed that Russian forces were focusing their main offensive efforts on Pokrovsk Toretsk and Lyman in the Donetsk region as well as the Sumy margin area Follow AP s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https apnews com hub russia-ukraine Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter