Ukraine said it secretly planted a swarm of drones in Russia and then unleashed them in a surprise attack on Sunday, hitting airfields from eastern Siberia to Russia’s western border.
The strike set several Russian aircraft on fire, stunned the Kremlin and dealt a strategic and symbolic blow to Moscow’s relentless bombing campaign in Ukraine.
Russian officials said that there were no casualties and that other Ukrainian attacks had been repelled.
Here’s what to know about the operation.
What to know
What happened?
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Ukrainian drones had attacked airfields in five regions stretching across five time zones. Several aircraft caught fire in the regions of Murmansk, near the border with Norway, and Irkutsk, in eastern Siberia, the ministry said.
“Some participants of the terrorist attacks were detained,” it said.
Ukraine said that 117 drones were used in the attacks. An official in Ukraine’s security services, known as the S.B.U., said that dozens of aircraft had been damaged in the strikes. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive intelligence operation.