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 unleashed more than a hundred drones smuggled deep into Russia in what it called its most damaging attack yet.

While the full extent of the damage is still unknown, the operation shows how Kyiv has been able to adapt and evolve over the war using drones.

The operation, which destroyed dozens of warplanes, is the 'biggest blow of the war against Moscow's long-range bomber fleet'

The attack injected some much-needed optimism into Ukraine, beleaguered by years of war and worn down by what many see as U.S. pressure to concede to Russian demands.