Ukraine meets with Russia after blasting dozens of bombers

Representatives from Ukraine and Russia met Monday in Turkey for their second round of in-person peace talks. The two sides concluded without making any deals to end the three-year-long war but the delegations did agree to swap bodies of soldiers killed in action. Ukraine suggested holding more talks later this month, according to the Associated Press. The meetings began the day after Ukranian officials claimed a highly successful covert operation had destroyed numerous Russian aircraft.

What Russian aircraft were destroyed? The Ukrainian Security Service on Sunday carried out a covert mission that targeted Russian aircraft at four airfields across the country. Drones destroyed 41 planes, the majority of which were strategic bombers capable of carrying cruise missiles, according to the service. Ukrainian officials claimed their drone operators hit more than a third of Russia’s bombers. The Kremlin on Monday did not comment on the attack and did not confirm the number of aircraft that sustained damage. The operation, codenamed Spiderweb, took about 18 months to plan and involved 117 drone operators, making it one of Ukraine’s largest attacks of the war.

How did Ukraine say it pulled it off? Ukrainian operatives transported the drones into Russia where they concealed them inside wooden sheds, according to the security service. The sheds were then loaded onto trucks and parked near military bases. Ukranian forces then remotely lifted the roofs off of the sheds to allow the drones to fly out and begin the attack. Mission planners specifically targeted military sites and avoided areas with civilian populations, said Lt. General Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service.

Dig deeper: Read my report about the first round of peace talks last month.