The agency confirmed that more details about the attack will be revealed later.

“And you thought Ukraine was easy? Ukraine is exceptional. Ukraine is unique. All the steamrollers of history have rolled over it. It has withstood every kind of trial. It is tempered by the highest degree. In today’s world, its value is beyond measure,” the SBU wrote, quoting Ukrainian poet Lina Kostenko.

They also vowed to continue to drive Russian forces out of Ukrainian territory.

“We will strike them (Russia) at sea, in the air, and on the ground. And if needed, we’ll get them from underground too,” the SBU said.

This operation targeted aircraft that is used in frequent long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, and the plan had been in preparation for over a year and a half.

According to a Kyiv Independent SBU source, first-person-view (FPV) drones were covertly transported deep into Russian territory and hidden inside trucks before being launched against four major airfields.

The source said one of the airfields hit was the Belaya air base in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast, more than 4,000 kilometers from Ukraine.

Olenya air base in Russia’s Murmansk Oblast, the Diaghilev airbase in Ryazan Oblast, Ivanovo airbase in Ivanovo Oblast were also targeted.

More than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including the A-50, Tu-95, and Tu-22 M3, according to the source.

The Tu-95 is a Soviet-era plane that made its first flight in 1952. It was originally used to carry nuclear bombs but has since evolved to launch cruise missiles.

Each aircraft can carry 16 cruise missiles – either the Kh-55/Kh-555 or the newer Kh-101 and Kh-102 air-launched cruise missiles.

Russia has escalated its attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, amid ongoing U.S.-backed ceasefire talks and negotiations.

The proposed roadmap begins with a full ceasefire of at least 30 days, to be followed by the return of all prisoners held by each side, and of Ukrainian children taken into Russian-held territory, and then a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Under the blueprint, Moscow and Kyiv — with the participation of the United States and Europe — will work to hash out the terms on which they can agree to put a complete end to their three-year-old war, the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

Ukrainian officials said earlier this week that they had sent the blueprint to the Russian side in advance of the Istanbul talks.

The framework Ukrainian terms for a peace deal as set out in the document seen by Reuters are largely the same as the terms previously put forward by Kyiv.

Those include no restrictions on Ukraine’s military strength after a peace deal is struck, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow’s forces, and reparations for Ukraine.

The document also stated that the current location of the front line will be the starting point for negotiations about territory.

Those terms diverge considerably from demands that Russia has made publicly in the past few weeks.

U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a deal to end their war, and Russia has proposed a second round of face-to-face talks with Ukrainian officials next week in Istanbul.

Kyiv announced earlier this week it is committed to the search for peace, but that it was waiting for a memorandum from the Russian side setting out their proposals which has not materialised.

Nevertheless, Zelensky said on Sunday that he will send a delegation of his officials to meet their Russian counterparts in Istanbul.

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”.

Ukraine has significantly escalated drone strikes into Russia in recent weeks, despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

“Enemy strategic bombers are burning en masse in Russia — this is the result of a special operation by the SBU,” the source said, adding, “Right now, the Security Service of Ukraine is conducting a large-scale special operation to destroy enemy bomber aircraft in the rear of the Russian Federation.”

“SBU drones are practicing on aircraft that bomb Ukrainian cities every night. Currently, more than 40 aircraft are known to have been hit, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3.”

The source stated at least one of the airfields hit was the Belaya air base in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast.

No further details were given.

Unconfirmed reports on social media said a fire was also burning at the Olenya air base in Russia’s Murmansk Oblast.

The A-50 provides several critical functions for the ongoing war in Ukraine, such as detecting air defense systems, guided missiles, and coordinating targets for Russian fighter jets.

Russia possesses less than ten of these planes. A-50 aircraft have an estimated price tag of around $350 million.

The the Tupolev Tu-95, the Tupolev Tu-22, as well as the Tupolev Tu-160, are all Russian heavy bombers regularly used to launch missiles at Ukrainian cities.

The Tu-95 is the older of the three aircraft, a Soviet-era plane that made its first flight in 1952. It was originally used to carry nuclear bombs but has since evolved to launch cruise missiles.

Each aircraft can carry 16 cruise missiles – either the Kh-55/Kh-555 or the newer Kh-101 and Kh-102 air-launched cruise missiles.

It features turboprop propellers rather than jet engines, as during the Cold War, their increased efficiency allowed it to fly all the way to the United States without refueling.

The Tu-22 carries the Kh-22 missiles, which pose a particular problem for Ukraine. It is supersonic and travels at around 4,000 kilometers per hour. Currently, it can only be shot down with the U.S.-made Patriot air defense system and potentially the SAMP-T, a joint Italian-French system.

The Tu-160 is Russia’s more modern strategic bomber, entering service in 1987. To this day, it remains the largest operational bomber in the world.

It can carry a total of 12 Kh-55 missiles and up to 24 Kh-15s.