On Sunday, Ukrainian forces attacked five airfields across Russia’s European region and Siberia.

The two weeks between the first and second rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul have done little to ease the fighting between the two sides.

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Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, Russia launched an attack on Ukrainian territory using approximately 500 drones. In response, Ukraine carried out its boldest sabotage operation since February 2022.

For the first time, Ukrainian drones struck targets in Siberia. The drones were remotely activated from heavy truck trailers parked near military airfields.

Russia’s Air Force ‘Pearl Harbor’

On Sunday, Ukrainian forces attacked five airfields across Russia’s European region and Siberia. The drones destroyed 41 aircraft—roughly one-third of Russia’s bomber fleet—at four airfields. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed it had lost several aircraft in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and in Murmansk.

Ukraine succeeded in hitting 13 bombers: eight Tu-95MS, four Tu-22M, and one An-12, according to military blogger Rybar. Ukrainian analysts are comparing the operation’s success to the sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, during the first year of the war.

In addition, Russian bloggers are reminding readers that the country’s updated nuclear doctrine allows for the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a massive drone attack on national territory.

Russia’s Security Buffer Zone

Shortly after the first Istanbul meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he had made the political decision to establish a security buffer zone along the border with Ukraine. This zone, intended to push back Ukrainian artillery, would encompass the Kursk, Belgorod, Bryansk, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions.

Russian troops have liberated six towns in the Sumy region over the past 10 days, with Ukrainian forces unable to halt their advance in Kharkiv either.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimated that 50,000 Russian soldiers are massed north of Sumy, whose capital lies just over 300 kilometers from Kyiv.

Meanwhile, fixed-wing drones continue to wreak havoc in both countries. The air battle has provided some relief to Ukrainian ground forces, which are experiencing a chronic shortage of manpower.

Irreconcilable Positions

Moscow and Kyiv have not even been able to agree on a preliminary exchange of settlement memorandums or a list of conditions for a cease-fire.

Ukraine has sent its conditions, which include an unconditional cease-fire on land, sea, and air, along with confidence-building measures such as the exchange of all prisoners of war. It also demands security guarantees, refuses to adopt a neutral status—which would leave open the possibility of joining NATO—and rejects any limitations on the size of its armed forces. These demands are considered red lines by the Kremlin.

The Zelenskyy regime has expressed openness to the gradual lifting of international sanctions against Moscow, but only under the condition that frozen Russian assets in the West are used for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Meanwhile, Russia is keeping its proposals secret and will present them only once the meeting in the Turkish city begins today. According to media leaks, Moscow is demanding a written NATO commitment not to expand toward Russia’s borders—specifically, ruling out membership for Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova.

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya stated that suspending Western arms supplies and halting Ukraine’s troop mobilization are essential conditions for ending hostilities. “If necessary, we will continue fighting as long as it takes,” he warned on Friday during a U.N. Security Council session.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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