Russia, Ukraine Start Peace Talks After Strikes

The second round of talks between the two sides aim to discuss both sides’ ceasefire terms

- AP

Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met Monday in Turkey for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks, although expectations were low for any significant progress on ending the three-year-old war after a string of stunning attacks over the weekend.

Kyiv officials said a surprise drone attack Sunday destroyed more than 40 warplanes at air bases deep inside Russia, including the remote Arctic, Siberian, and Far East regions more than 7,000 kilometers (4,300 miles) from Ukraine.

The complex and unprecedented raid, which struck simultaneously in three time zones, took over a year and a half to prepare and was "a major slap in the face for Russia's military power," said Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Ukrainian security service who led its planning.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a "brilliant operation" that would go down in history. The operation destroyed or heavily damaged nearly a third of Moscow's strategic bomber fleet, according to Ukrainian officials.