With 41 military aircraft impacted, the Ukrainian drone attack was described by some commentators as Russia's "Pearl Harbor." The attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 was a surprise air raid by Japan on the U.S. during World War II. Kyiv's assault follows ground advances by Moscow troops in recent days in Ukraine's Sumy border region.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose operational details, said the attack took over a year and a half to execute and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.