Strike against Putin's bombers Kiev demonstrates strength ahead of talks with Operation Spider Web
Defense Minister Rustem Umyerov is once again at the head of the Ukrainian delegation. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are likely to be difficult. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Russia repeatedly attacks Ukraine with drones. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more prisoners. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Several Russian Tu-95 long-range bombers are said to have been destroyed by a Ukrainian drone attack. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Defense Minister Rustem Umyerov is once again at the head of the Ukrainian delegation. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are likely to be difficult. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Russia repeatedly attacks Ukraine with drones. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged more prisoners. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Several Russian Tu-95 long-range bombers are said to have been destroyed by a Ukrainian drone attack. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
In May, Moscow and Kiev held direct talks on a way out of the war for the first time since 2022. The only result was an exchange of prisoners. What will the second round bring?
02.06.2025, 06:28
02.06.2025, 07:23
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- A spectacular strike by Ukraine against Russia's strategic bomber fleet has reshuffled the cards for a round of negotiations between the warring parties in Istanbul today.
- Moscow's reaction to the loss of a large number of aircraft is still pending.
- According to its own statements, the Ukrainian secret service had smuggled many small drones into Russia and had them attacked from trucks near Russian military airfields.
- Both sides have formulated demands for an end to the hostilities, which so far hardly match.
- In addition, the warring parties massively expanded their mutual attacks shortly before the meeting in Istanbul - with casualties and damage on both sides.
A spectacular strike by Ukraine against Russia's strategic bomber fleet has reshuffled the cards for a round of negotiations between the warring parties in Istanbul today. Moscow's reaction to the loss of a large number of aircraft is still pending. According to its own statements, the Ukrainian secret service had smuggled many small drones into Russia and had them attacked from trucks near Russian military airfields.
The round of talks in Istanbul is the second since mid-May. Before that, the warring parties had last spoken directly to each other in 2022. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against the neighboring country for more than three years. Questions and answers on the situation and what can be expected from negotiations:
What happened at the Russian air bases?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi celebrated the surprise attack by his secret service, the SBU, as an "absolutely brilliant success". It was preceded by one and a half years of preparation. According to the report, bases in the Ivanovo, Ryazan and Murmansk regions in the European part of Russia, Irkutsk in Siberia and Amur in the Far East were attacked. The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that drone attacks had caused aircraft to catch fire in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions.
The small remote-controlled aircraft were hidden in wooden crates on trucks, whose drivers drove them unsuspectingly to the military sites. There, the truck roofs opened automatically and the FPV drones began their attack.
According to SBU figures, more than 40 fighter and reconnaissance aircraft were destroyed - around 34 percent of Russian bombers capable of launching cruise missiles. These figures could not be independently verified until now. However, photos and videos showed damaged and destroyed Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-22 fighter jets. Russia has always fired at Ukraine with missiles launched from such aircraft.
According to the Ukrainian media outlet RBC, the Ukrainian special operation against the Russian air force, codenamed "Spider's Web", was directly supervised by Zelensky and implemented with the involvement of intelligence chief Vasyl Malyuk.
Where do Moscow and Kiev stand ahead of the negotiations?
Both sides have formulated demands for an end to the fighting, which so far hardly match. In addition, the warring parties massively expanded their mutual attacks shortly before the meeting in Istanbul - with casualties and damage on both sides. According to Selenskyj, Russia attacked Ukraine with almost 500 drones and missiles on Sunday night. Ukraine, for its part, may also have wanted to demonstrate its strength with its coordinated attack on several Russian military airfields ahead of the negotiations.
On the basis of a US proposal, the Ukrainian president is calling for an internationally monitored, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as an introduction to peace negotiations. He also envisages a meeting at the highest level to agree a lasting peace. This would be the only way to resolve the most important issues.
Moscow rejected an unconditional ceasefire, arguing that Kiev could use a ceasefire to gather strength for the war. Russia sets two conditions as a minimum requirement for a ceasefire.
"For the duration of the ceasefire, it is at least necessary for Western countries to stop supplying arms to the Kiev regime and for Ukraine to end its mobilization," said Russia's UN Ambassador Vasily Nebensya to the United Nations Security Council on Friday. His country is ready to discuss the conditions for peace at the negotiations in Istanbul.
What can be expected from the negotiations?
Above all, both sides want to talk about their respective memoranda for an end to the war. Ukraine now wants to examine Russia's submission in Istanbul, having already submitted its document to Russia in advance. According to Selenskyj, the Russian side has not yet submitted a memorandum. "We don't have it, the Turkish side doesn't have it, and the American side doesn't have the Russian document either," he wrote on Platform X on the eve of the talks.
While Kiev has little expectation of a solution and is calling for further sanctions pressure on Moscow, Russia is calling for the negotiations to continue. In his evening video address on Sunday, Zelensky said that they would try to "make at least some progress towards peace".
The only important result of the negotiations in May was the largest prisoner exchange to date. It is conceivable that the new round will result in an agreement on a further exchange of prisoners.
Talks on a new ceasefire - as at Easter - are also possible. Most recently, there was also a willingness to refrain from attacks on energy facilities, for example. During the ceasefires, the two sides had accused each other of many violations, but also admitted that the number of attacks had decreased. Ukraine emphasized the absence of air strikes on individual days.
What is Moscow demanding for a fundamental solution to the conflict?
Russia has so far stuck to its maximum demands for a permanent end to the conflict. In addition to a Ukrainian renunciation of NATO membership and extensive disarmament of the country, this also includes recognition of the Russian annexation of Ukrainian territories. Russia considers the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson to be part of its territory, in addition to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. Although Russia does not yet fully control these four regions, it is demanding the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops.
Following a visit to the Russian border region of Kursk, which had been partly controlled by Ukrainian troops for months, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin announced in mid-May that he wanted to create a buffer zone "along the border". The Ministry of Defense in Moscow recently reported territorial gains there and in other regions of Ukraine. Ukraine rejected the plans. It sees the plans as new proof that Russia has no interest in peace.
Does Russia want more territory?
Russia repeatedly emphasizes that it has no interest in land because it is big enough itself. However, the conflict is about protecting the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine. This threatens an expansion of territorial claims. The chairman of the defense committee in the Russian parliament, Andrey Kartapolov, made it clear that Ukraine could also lose its territories of Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Odessa and Mykolaiv if it rejected Moscow's peace offer now.
Zelenskyi rejects the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops and has repeatedly ruled out ceding territory to Russia. Ukraine's constitution does not permit this, he said.