ISTANBUL (AP) — Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met Monday in Turkey for their second round of direct peace talks in just over two weeks, although expectations were low for any significant progress on ending the3-year-old war after a string of stunning attacks over the weekend.

Russia’s Defense Ministry in a statement confirmed the attacks, saying they damaged aircraft and sparked fires on air bases in the Irkutsk region, as well as the Murmansk region in the north. It said strikes were also repelled in the Amur region in Russia’s Far East and in the western regions of Ivanovo and Ryazan, the ministry said.

Ukraine’s Security Service said it has struck at least 40 Russian bombers deep inside Russian territory in what would be one of the largest and most audacious attacks on Russian territory in the years long conflict.