On the eve of peace talks, Ukraine and Russia sharply escalated hostilities, staging one of the largest drone battles in their conflict, with Ukraine launching a large-scale attack on bombers at Russian military airfields. Russia also attacked, sending the largest number of drones in a single night to Ukraine on Sunday, the 1st of June, according to Reuters.
Peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday will be the second direct talks between the two sides in a month.
After several days of uncertainty about whether Ukraine would participate in the talks at all, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would meet with Russian officials in Istanbul on Monday.
The Russian delegation will be led by Kremlin adviser Vladimir Medinsky, who, after the first round, referenced Napoleon Bonaparte, saying that war and negotiations must always take place simultaneously.
After the first round of talks, which took place more than a week ago, the largest exchange of prisoners of war took place, but no consensus was reached on how to stop the fighting.
WHILE PEACE TALKS WERE UNDERWAY, THERE WAS MUCH OF WAR.
Ukraine attacked Russian bombers at several military bases, including deep in Siberia, on Sunday, a Ukrainian intelligence official said, the first such attack launched more than 4 300 km from the front lines.
Ukraine’s domestic intelligence service, the SBU, acknowledged that it had carried out the attack, codenamed «Operation Spider’s Web», which had been planned for more than a year and a half, with drones hidden in trucks that entered the perimeter of the air bases.
A total of 41 Russian military aircraft were destroyed, according to an official. The SBU estimated the losses at seven billion US dollars and said that Russia had lost 34% of its strategic missile carriers located at its main airfields.
Zelenskyy expressed his delight at the «absolutely outstanding result» and said that 117 drones had been used in the attack. «And the result was achieved by Ukraine on its own,» he wrote.
A Ukrainian government official told Reuters that Ukraine had not informed the US about the attack in advance.
A bridge in Russia’s Bryansk region was also blown up while a train carrying 388 passengers was passing over it. At least seven people were killed and 69 injured, but no one has claimed responsibility.
THE RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT UKRAINE CARRIED OUT DRONE STRIKES AGAINST RUSSIAN MILITARY AIRFIELDS IN FIVE REGIONS ON SUNDAY.
The attacks were repelled in all regions except two – Murmansk in the far north and Irkutsk in Siberia, where «the launch of FPV drones from an area close to airfields caused several aircraft to catch fire», the ministry reported.
The fires were extinguished without casualties. Some of those involved in the attacks were detained, the ministry said. Ukraine reported that all of its personnel involved had returned safely.
Russia launched 472 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said, the largest number of drones fired in a single evening. Russia also fired seven missiles, the air force said.
Russian air defence units destroyed a total of 162 Ukrainian drones on Monday night, shooting down 57 of them over the Kursk region. The debris from the destroyed drones caused fires in residential buildings, but there were no casualties, officials said.
Russia said it had moved deeper into Ukraine’s Sumy region, and DeepState maps showed that Russia had captured 450 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in May, its fastest monthly advance in at least six months.
US President Donald Trump has called on Russia and Ukraine to make peace
According to Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg, both sides will submit their documents outlining ideas for peace terms in Turkey, although it is clear that after three years of intense war, Moscow and Kyiv’s demands are starkly different.
Kyiv announced over the weekend that it was still waiting for a memorandum from Russia.The Kremlin’s chief negotiator, Medinsky, said on Sunday that Moscow had received
Ukraine’s memorandum and told the Russian news agency RIA that the Kremlin would respond on Monday.
Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul will present the proposed peace roadmap to the Russian side, according to a copy of the document obtained by Reuters.
According to the document, after the conclusion of the peace agreement, Ukraine’s military forces will not be restricted, the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine will not be internationally recognised, and Ukraine will receive reparations.
The document also states that the current front line will be the starting point for negotiations on territory.
Russia currently controls slightly less than one-fifth of Ukraine.
The US claims that more than 1.2 million people have been killed and wounded in the war since 2022.