40 Russian planes hit in spectacular drone strike

Ukraine has launched a spectacular "large-scale" drone attack against Russian military bombers in Siberia, striking more than 40 warplanes on four separate airfields thousands of miles from its own territory, a security official said.

- Deborah Cole Pjotr Sauer Artem Mazhulin

Video from several military airfields across Russia showed destroyed aircraft and planes engulfed in flames, though the full extent of the damage remained unclear. The drones had been smuggled into Russia to the perimeter of the airfields, hidden in the roofs of wooden sheds and loaded on lorries.

On the eve of peace talks, the drone attacks were part of a sharp ramping up of the three-year war, with Russia also launching waves of drones at Ukraine, while Moscow said sabotage was to blame for two train derailments that left seven people dead.

Among the more than 40 aircraft reportedly hit were Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, which Russia uses to fire long-range missiles at Ukrainian cities.

A Ukrainian official, who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity, said the strikes had been conducted by Ukraine's SBU domestic intelligence agency, and had simultaneously struck four Russian military airbases, hitting planes worth a combined $7bn ($5.2bn).

If the extent of the damage is confirmed, the attack would be Ukraine's most damaging drone strike of the war to date, amid an escalation in cross-border incursions before a new round of direct negotiations in Istanbul today.

The Ukrainian official provided video footage to media reportedly showing the strikes, in which Reuters said several large aircraft appearing to be Tu-95 bombers were on fire. The Tu-95 was originally developed to carry nuclear bombs and now launches cruise missiles.

Several Russian and Ukrainian media outlets reported that Ukraine carried out the operation by launching drones from lorries parked near military airfields deep inside Russia.

Ukrainian officials told the media that the operation - codenamed "Spiderweb" - had been in preparation for more than 18 months.