How Ukraine Pulled Off Its 'Audacious' Russian Attack

The drone assault that Ukraine unleashed on Russia over the weekend went well beyond the ordinary. It was, reports NBC News, "a stunning, audacious attack whose widespread effects are only just becoming clear." Details:

• In "Operation Spiderweb," Ukrainian drones struck planes and military infrastructure behind Moscow's relentless bombing campaign of Ukraine. The exact nature of the damage deep in Russian territory is unconfirmed, but the Wall Street Journal reports that "a sizable portion of the fleet Moscow uses to launch guided-missile attacks" was damaged or destroyed.

• Some of the bases struck were 3,000 miles from Kyiv, part of the unprecedented nature of the attack. The New York Times reports that the key for Ukraine was sneaking drones into the country ahead of time.
• The BBC backs that up: "In an operation said to have taken 18 months to prepare, scores of small drones were smuggled into Russia, stored in special compartments aboard freight trucks, driven to at least four separate locations, thousands of miles apart, and launched remotely towards nearby airbases."
• Ukraine claims to have damaged or destroyed 41 planes—accounting for about 35% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers—and caused $7 billion in damage. The claims have not been confirmed, and Russian military bloggers call them exaggerated. But most outside observers say Ukraine pulled off quite a feat. "This may not change the course of the war, but it does mean that every gain Russia makes will be at high cost," Sven Biscop of Belgian think tank the Egmont Institute tells NBC.
• All of this comes as representatives of Ukraine and Russia meet in Turkey for a second round of direct peace talks on Monday. The AP has details.

(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)