Attack on Ukrainian Ground Forces training unit and drone strikes on Russian airfields - Weekend brief
RBC-Ukraine collage
Russia struck a training unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces this weekend. Meanwhile, the Security Service of Ukraine carried out a large-scale special operation, attacking four Russian airfields with drones and hitting dozens of strategic aircraft.
For more information about what happened over the weekend, see the RBC-Ukraine report.
Russia strikes Ukrainian army training unit
Russia launched a missile strike on the location of a Ukrainian Ground Forces training unit, killing 12 servicemembers and injuring more than 60 others.
To determine all the circumstances and causes of the personnel losses, the Command of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has set up a commission and launched an internal investigation. The command and personnel of the Eastern Operational Command will also fully support the work of law enforcement agencies.
The training unit is located in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
After the Russian strike on the 239th training ground, the commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mykhailo Drapatyi, resigned.
Spiderweb special operation
On Sunday, the Security Service of Ukraine carried out a massive drone strike on military airfields located in Russia. The large-scale special operation, codenamed Spiderweb, had been preparing for a year and a half — its goal was to destroy the enemy's strategic aviation deep in the rear.
As a result of the attack, 41 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces were damaged or destroyed. Four key airfields were targeted: Belaya, Dyagilevo, Olenya, and Ivanovo.
According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the operation was conducted almost in close proximity to FSB structures within Russia. Sources in the SSU told RBC-Ukraine that all participants in the special operation had already returned to Ukrainian territory.
The security service also warned that if the Russian authorities publicly announce the alleged detention of saboteurs, it will serve only as yet another informational spectacle for the domestic audience.
Meanwhile, the Russian ministry of defense has already responded — it announced the "detention of participants in the terrorist attack." Read the details of the Russian side’s reaction in the RBC-Ukraine report.
It is also worth noting that the SSU has already calculated how much the Russian Federation lost in a single day as a result of the Ukrainian special operation.
More details about Spiderweb operation, which has become one of the most high-profile operations since the start of the full-scale war - in a separate RBC-Ukraine report.
Ukraine-Russia talks
Today, June 2, the second meeting of the Ukrainian and Russian delegations is to take place in Istanbul. Russia has not yet handed over its memorandum to Ukraine.
For a week, the Russians have been offering to provide the document directly at the meeting in Istanbul.
According to Reuters, Ukraine will present a roadmap for resolving the war.
Among the proposals are a ceasefire for at least 30 days, an all-for-all prisoner exchange, the return of Ukrainian children, and a direct meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy also revealed yesterday what Ukraine will offer the Russians.
Second wave of forced child evacuations begins in three Dnipropetrovsk communities
A second wave of mandatory child evacuation has begun in the Dnipropetrovsk region due to the growing threat of Russian shellings. Families from three frontline communities are being evacuated.
