Media: Trump officials not informed before Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian air bases

A U.S. official told reporters the Trump administration was not made aware of Ukraine’s most audacious drone strikes to date, which targeted several Russian air bases thousands of kilometres from the Ukrainian border. 

Ukrainian officials say the operation was months in the making and struck a significant blow to Russia’s strategic bomber fleet, Caliber.Az reports, citing Axios.

The wave of attacks, carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service under the codename “Spider Web”, hit airfields across five Russian regions, including deep inside Siberia. According to Ukrainian sources, 117 drones were launched from concealed trucks near Russian bases, damaging or destroying around 40 military aircraft, most of them strategic bombers used in strikes on Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed 34% of Russia’s strategic bombers were hit in the operation, calling it “our most long-range operation” and hailing the results as “absolutely brilliant.” The strikes were executed by Ukrainian agents who had reportedly operated inside Russia for months, with one staging office allegedly located in Chelyabinsk Oblast—more than 2,000 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and near a regional FSB headquarters.

"The people who assisted us were withdrawn from Russian territory before the operation—they are now safe," Zelenskyy said.

The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed multiple bases had come under attack, including in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, but claimed the drones were mostly intercepted and that no casualties were reported. The ministry acknowledged that several aircraft had caught fire but said the blazes were extinguished.

The unprecedented strikes come just days before a Ukrainian delegation, led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, is due to travel to Istanbul for ceasefire negotiations with Russia. President Zelenskyy said the main priorities for the talks will be a full and unconditional ceasefire, the release of prisoners, and the return of children taken from occupied territories.

“These are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “We are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war.”

The Biden administration has yet to comment publicly, but a Ukrainian official confirmed Kyiv did not notify Washington in advance. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on June 1 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, reaffirming President Trump's support for direct talks between the two sides in pursuit of a lasting peace.

As the ceasefire discussions loom, Russia has responded to the strikes with its own wave of drone attacks, including on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, over the past 24 hours, highlighting the still-escalating cycle of retaliation despite the upcoming talks.

By Aghakazim Guliyev