Ukraine hits over 40 Russian strategic bombers in ‘large-scale' attack: Media

The country’s Security Service (SBU) has conducted a “large-scale special operation” to destroy Russian bombers, Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform reported, citing sources in the SBU.

The report said SBU drones targeted planes used by Moscow in attacks on Ukrainian cities overnight.

More than 40 bombers are currently known to have been hit, the report claimed, adding that preparations for the "operation" took more than a year and a half.

The attack targeted four airfields at once, including Olenya, Ivanovo, Dyagilevo, and Belaya, the latter of which is in Russia's Siberian region of Irkutsk, whose administrative center is more than 4,300 kilometers (2,670 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border, Ukrinform said in its report, citing SBU sources.

Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev on Telegram confirmed strikes on his region, saying a military unit in the settlement of Sredny was attacked by drones.

“The source from which the drones were launched has already been blocked. It was a truck,” he added.

Murmansk Governor Andrey Chibis and Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov also reported drone attacks in their respective regions. The former, however, called information regarding explosions in the town of Severomorsk, “fake.”

The town serves as the main naval base for Russia's Northern Fleet.

The SBU has yet to make an official comment on the reports.