Kiev attacks military airfields in five Russian regions

Several aircraft were damaged and some of the perpetrators behind the attacks are in custody, the military has said.

Military airfields across Russia have been attacked in a series of kamikaze drone strikes, the country’s Defense Ministry reported on Sunday, blaming the incidents on Kiev. Most of the strikes were successfully repelled, with some resulting in material damage, it added.

Airfields were targeted in the Murmansk Region in the country’s north, in Ivanovo and Ryazan regions in central Russia as well as in Irkutsk Region in Siberia and Amur Region in the Far East, the ministry said. All the attacks employed first-person view (PFV) kamikaze drones, with some of them being launched from territories in close proximity to the airfields, it stated.

Some of the culprits behind the attacks have been detained, the ministry said, without revealing the number of those arrested or their identities. The Russian military also said that the “Kiev regime” was ultimately responsible for the strikes, which they described as “terrorist attacks.”

In Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions, the attacks were repelled and resulted in no damage or casualties, according to the ministry. In Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, the strikes led to some aircraft catching fire, the military said. No casualties have been reported in any of the incidents, according to the ministry’s data.

The Ukrainian media have claimed that the strikes were part of what they called a “historic” operation codenamed ‘Spiderweb.” According to the reports, the strikes had been prepared for more a year and a half and targeted Russia’s “strategic aviation.”

Channel 24 in Ukraine published a photo of the head of the country’s domestic security service (SBU), Vasily Malyuk, looking at what they said were maps of five Russian military airfields. The photo was released by the SBU itself, the media stated.

Earlier on Sunday, the first drone attack was reported in Siberia, targeting a military installation in Irkutsk Region. According to Governor Igor Kobzev, the launch site was promptly “blocked” and there was “no threat to the lives and health of civilians,” the official added.

Ukraine has significantly escalated drone strikes into Russia in recent weeks, despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has earlier described them as attempts to derail the peace process.