Ukraine and Russia hold brief talks in Istanbul after Kyiv launches surprise drone attack

Delegates from Russia and Ukraine met briefly in Istanbul on Monday for a new round of talks – a day after Kyiv unleashed a surprise drone offensive that hit Russian heavy bombers and surveillance planes.

Ukraine on Sunday sent 117 explosives-laden drones into military bases across Russia, including as far away as Irkutsk, about 4,000km from Kyiv, according to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Monday's talks in Istanbul ended after about an hour without the two sides appearing any closer to ending the war, but the dialogue paved the way for a new prisoner swap.

Mr Zelenskyy said the drones were operated by people inside Russia across three time zones, adding that “34 per cent of strategic cruise missile carriers at the airfields were hit.” Videos on social media showed drones flying into Russian bombers. The drones had been launched from cargo lorries that had been fitted with retractable roofs.

Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed that attacks occurred at five military airbases across the nation, from its far east and eastern Siberia to locations a few hundred kilometres from Moscow. Other reports, however, suggested that only “a few aircraft units” were damaged at two military bases in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions.

Sunday's drone strikes show that Ukraine can still inflict large-scale damage against its much larger neighbour and highlights how quickly advances in drone technology are changing the calculus of modern warfare. During an appearance at the AI+ Expo in Washington on Monday, Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, heralded the “very successful defence operation”.

“That means those Russian aircraft that, on a daily basis, bomb our hospitals, schools and kill our kids … our capabilities and our drones are the best examples of how innovation can work for our defence,” she said, drawing applause from some in the crowd.

“This is not just a war in which we defend territories and our loved ones. It's also a war for technological relevance, and Ukraine is rising to meet that challenge, and Ukraine is ready to share that with everyone who shares the same values,” she added.

US President Donald Trump had vowed he would end the war upon taking office but he has been frustrated by Mr Putin's apparent stalling of a peace push. He has also criticised Mr Zelenskyy.

Moscow has so far resisted a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and has laid out maximalist demands to end its invasion, which is now in its fourth year. While Mr Trump has threatened to impose more sanctions on Russia, he has so far held off on taking that step.

In Istanbul, Kyiv demanded an unconditional truce, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said. Russia in turn proposed a ceasefire for two to three days along certain parts of the front to allow the evacuation of war dead, said the head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. The meeting was only the second time the two sides have met publicly since Russia invaded Ukraine early in 2022.

The US Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, described Sunday's operation as “pretty prolific”.

“People tend to talk about carriers, but with [drone attacks], it's a moving airfield, and the fact that it's not easy to take out is a good thing,” he said at the AI defence conference in Washington, when asked whether small drones were a harbinger of the future of war. “It's tough to take that out, it's not a stationary target, and that's a good thing,” he added. “You can't not study that this is happening.”

Secretary Phelan then pivoted to the overall use of drones outside of Ukraine and Russia, referring to the Houthi drone attacks in the Red Sea. “We have to be ready to adapt very quickly,” he said. “I don't think people understand the amount of drone attacks going on there ... the navy has done a pretty good job,” he said, cautioning that “the enemy” is constantly evolving, and that the US is working quickly to learn from those strategies.

The two-day exhibition, focused on artificial intelligence and international defence, is organised by the Special Competitive Studies Project, a non-profit and non-partisan group that seeks to “to strengthen America’s long-term competitiveness”.