LONDON — The Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) carried out a large-scale operation concentrating on 4 Russian army airfields on Sunday, an SBU supply confirmed to ABC Information, claiming to have hit greater than 40 army plane “that bomb Ukrainian cities each evening.”
The governors of the Russian areas of Irkutsk and Murmansk confirmed drone assaults of their respective areas. Movies shared with ABC Information by the SBU confirmed drones attacking Olenya airbase in Murmansk and Belaya airfield in Irkutsk. Each are residence to Russian strategic bomber plane, together with nuclear-capable bombers.
The governor of Irkutsk famous that the drones had been launched from the again of a truck within the space. The governor posted an accompanying video of drones flying overhead and big columns of smoke rising close by.
Smoke rises above the realm following what native authorities referred to as a drone assault on a army unit within the Sredny settlement, within the Usolsky district of the Irkutsk area, Russia, on this nonetheless picture from a video printed June 1, 2025.
Governor Of Irkutsk Area/through Reuters
A supply within the SBU advised ABC Information that the operation had been deliberate for “greater than a yr and a half.” Drones had been hid inside makeshift “cellular homes” with retractable roofs, which had been then positioned on vehicles.
“On the proper second, the roofs of the homes had been remotely opened and the drones flew out to strike,” the supply stated.
Ukrainian drones hid inside makeshift ‘cellular homes’ with retractable roofs had been utilized in assault, June 1, 2025, on Russian army airfields, an Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) supply advised ABC Information.
Safety Service of Ukraine
In a assertion posted to the social media website Telegram, the Russian Ministry of Protection acknowledged what they referred to as a “terrorist assault utilizing FPV drones in opposition to airfields within the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur areas.”
“(S)everal models of plane caught fireplace” within the Murmansk and Irkutsk areas “because of the launch of FPV drones from the territory positioned within the speedy neighborhood of the airfields,” in line with the assertion.
The assertion, which attributed the assaults to the “Kyiv regime,” stated that “assaults had been repelled” at “army airfields within the Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur areas.”
“The fires have been extinguished. There aren’t any casualties amongst army personnel or civilian personnel,” the assertion stated, including that “among the individuals within the terrorist assaults have been detained.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Posted a assertion to the social media website X about Sunday’s drone assault, saying partially that it produced “a fully good end result.” He added that Ukrainian army officers concerned in getting ready the operation had been “withdrawn from Russian territory in time” and that the drone strikes “will undoubtedly be within the historical past books.”
The drone strikes come as Russia-Ukraine peace talks are scheduled to renew on Monday in Istanbul, Turkey.
“Ukraine is defending itself, and rightly so — we’re doing every part to make Russia really feel the necessity to finish this struggle,” Zelenskyy stated, including, “Russia began this struggle, Russia should finish it.”
Elsewhere, no less than seven folks had been killed and 66 injured when a railway bridge collapsed and a prepare derailed in Russia’s western Bryansk area in a single day, following what one native official stated was “an explosion” on the route.
Prepare operator Moscow Railway stated the quantity 68 passenger prepare was touring from the Belgorod border city of Klimov to Moscow when it derailed “as a result of collapse of the superstructure of the street bridge because of unlawful interference in transport operations.”
“There was an explosion on the bridge on the freeway whereas the Klimov-Moscow prepare was transferring, which had 388 passengers on board,” Bryansk Gov. Aleksandr Bogomaz stated throughout an interview on the Rossiya-24 TV channel, as quoted by the state-run TASS information company.
Bogomaz stated on Telegram that seven folks had been killed and 66 folks had been injured, 47 of whom had been hospitalized
A second railway bridge collapsed in a single day within the Russian area of Kursk — one other border area neighboring Bryansk to its north — derailing a passing freight prepare.
“A part of the prepare fell onto a street beneath the bridge,” Alexander Khinshtein, the performing regional governor, stated. At the very least one employee was injured, he added.
Andrei Klishas, the chairman of Russia’s Federation Council Committee on State Building, claimed on Telegram that Ukraine was accountable for the lethal incident in Bryansk.
“The blowing up of the bridge and the derailment of the passenger prepare within the Bryansk area point out that Ukraine is managed by a terrorist group,” he wrote.
The Kremlin stated in a press release that President Vladimir Putin “was briefed on the state of affairs,” receiving updates from the Federal Safety Service and the Emergencies Ministry.
Andriy Kovalenko, the top of the Counter-Disinformation Middle working as a part of Ukraine’s Nationwide Safety and Protection Council, disputed ideas of Ukrainian involvement in a Telegram put up — linking the allegations to Monday’s deliberate peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey.
“Plainly the Kremlin is getting ready the bottom for the disruption of the talks,” Kovalenko wrote. “Ukraine has no motive to disrupt the Istanbul summit. Quite the opposite, Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire way back. Subsequently, a rail struggle within the fashion of World Conflict II is an argument for Russian propaganda, not an instrument of our coverage.”
Ukrainian intelligence companies have previously claimed duty for assaults on Russia’s railway networks meant to hamper Moscow’s army logistics, whereas additionally sharing experiences of arson and different sabotage operations in opposition to Russian railways with out explicitly claiming duty.
On Sunday, for instance, Ukrainian army intelligence — GUR — reported an explosion on a railway in occupied southern Ukraine on Saturday evening, which it stated derailed a freight prepare that was heading towards occupied Crimea.
“Because of an explosion on the railway observe, the prepare with gas tanks and freight automobiles derailed,” the GUR stated in a press release. “The important thing logistical artery of Muscovites within the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia area and Crimea was disrupted.”
“The combat in opposition to the army logistics of the Russian occupiers continues,” the GUR assertion added.
Ukrainian strikes within the Russian border areas of Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod have develop into commonplace over greater than three years of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. These have included floor incursions by Ukrainian forces, most notably within the Kursk area.
On this photograph printed on Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor’s Workplace Telegram channel on June 1, 2025, emergency workers work at a broken bridge in Russia’s Bryansk area.
AP
In the meantime, Moscow additionally continued its personal long-range strike marketing campaign in opposition to Ukraine. The Ukrainian air pressure reported 479 drones and missiles launched into the nation in a single day, marking one among — if not the — largest in a single day aerial assault of the 3-year-old struggle.
The air pressure stated it neutralized 385 of the “aerial assault belongings,” however added that “impacts” had been recorded in 18 locations.
The Ukrainian Floor Forces additionally reported a Russian missile strike on a army coaching facility in an undisclosed location in Ukraine, wherein 12 folks had been killed and 60 injured.
ABC Information’ Victoria Beaule, Natalia Popova and Oleksiy Pshemyskyi contributed to this report.
