For months, even as its forces were losing ground on the battlefield at home, the Ukrainian military was planning a stunning assault deep in Russian soil.

On Sunday, remotely operated Ukrainian drones emerged from hiding inside Russia and began wreaking damage. When they were done, at least a dozen military aircraft lay in ruins.

An analysis of videos and satellite imagery by The New York Times shows the extent of the attack.

Strategic bombers in at least two airfields, Belaya and Olenya, were destroyed. In total, Ukraine targeted bases in five regions, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, which said attacks on three other locations had been repelled. The Times was not able to verify those claims, but satellite imagery captured on Monday indicates that no aircraft were damaged at two of the other bases likely targeted. No clear satellite imagery or footage existed for the third base.

Belaya air base

A video shared widely online, and verified by The Times, shows a recording of the software responsible for piloting the Ukrainian’s drones as their assault on the Belaya air base began.

The footage captures a drone’s view as it flies over the base toward a line of at least six aircraft before descending toward a Tupolev Tu-95 bomber.

Shortly after, a video shows, two drones launch from containers that appear to be disguised as modular homes mounted on the back of a nearby semi-truck. They fly toward smoke plumes billowing from the base less than four miles away.

Footage from the ground recorded roughly halfway between the semi-truck and Belaya shows more drones flying overhead toward the base. Their flight path indicates they may have come from the semi’s general direction.

Videos taken at the launch site later that day show the containers on fire, their tops lying on the ground nearby. In a statement on Monday, Ukrainian officials said crates that transported the drones were rigged to self-destruct once the drones launched.

To assess the damage at the air base, The Times obtained radar imagery from a space imaging company, Umbra, that can see through cloudy skies. Seven strategic bombers appear to be completely destroyed, very likely four Tupolev Tu-22M and three Tupolev Tu-95 bombers. They were also visible in the drone footage. Chris Biggers, a geospatial analyst, published the same findings previously. The confirmed damage at Belaya signals a blow to Russia’s campaign of using long-range bombers to target Ukraine.

In satellite imagery of the base, likely decoy aircraft consisting of car tires and other materials can be seen. Some of these apparent anti-drone measures were set up over the past months.

Olenya air base

The earliest footage of the Olenya air base verified by The Times captures an attack already in motion.

A screen recording from the Ukrainian’s pilot software shows a drone flying by two smoking Tu-95 bombers. Another Tu-95 is hit by an explosion. Car tires — apparent defensive measures — are visible next to and on top of the wings of at least three of the damaged Tu-95 bombers.

Footage captured moments later shows another Tu-95, as well as an An-12 cargo transport aircraft, ablaze.

At a gas station roughly four miles southwest of the base, a man recorded a video of drones flying through the sky. He claims they have been launched from a truck seen parked down the road.

While the strikes on Sunday subjected Russia to serious strategic losses, analysts cautioned it does not appear to have changed the Kremlin’s resolve to pursue its military goals.

The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is pausing its aid distribution operations for one day as it seeks to bolster security around its sites. The pause is reportedly also intended to give GHF time to develop plans for accommodating larger crowds.

GHF’s break in operations comes after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops reportedly shot at Palestinians who strayed from a pre-approved path to get aid three days in a row, according to the Times of Israel. 

TENSIONS RISE AS ISRAEL STRONGLY DENIES FIRING ON PALESTINIANS AT GAZA HUMANITARIAN SITE

“GHF is actively engaged in discussions with the IDF to enhance its security measures beyond the immediate perimeter of GHF sites,” a GHF spokesperson told Fox News Digital. The organization said it has asked the IDF to “introduce measures that guide foot traffic in a way that minimizes confusion or escalation risks near IDF military perimeters, develop clearer IDF-issued guidance to help the population transit safely and enhance IDF force training and refine internal IDF procedures to support safety.”

“These measures are part of our commitment to continuous improvements for civilian safety and risk reduction in one of the most complex humanitarian environments in the world,” the GHF spokesperson added. “Our top priority remains ensuring the safety and dignity of civilians receiving aid. This is critical given that GHF is the only operation reliably delivering aid to the Gazan people at present.”

The IDF said that 121 trucks of aid from “the UN and the international community” crossed into Gaza on May 28, 2025. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

DOZENS OF PALESTINIANS KILLED, NEARLY 200 WOUNDED WHILE ON THEIR WAY TO COLLECT AID IN GAZA

On Tuesday, the IDF said its troops “identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes.” The soldiers fired warning shots and then opened fire when the suspects would not retreat, according to the IDF. 

Contrary to the IDF’s account of events, several reports stated that at least 27 Palestinians were killed while trying to access aid on Tuesday. The Times of Israel reported that Hamas health authorities claimed 31 people were killed on Sunday, three on Monday and 27 on Tuesday, in addition to the many wounded in each incident.

Palestinians carry aid supplies they received from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 28, 2025.  (REUTERS/Hatem Khaled)

While the GHF has enjoyed the support of the U.S. and Israel, several aid organizations and the United Nations have criticized the system, claiming that it militarizes aid. However, Israel has repeatedly praised GHF for distributing aid in Gaza without empowering Hamas.

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordination Tom Fletcher, an outspoken critic of GHF, has routinely urged in interviews that his organization be allowed to do its work.

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on a demand for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as well as humanitarian access across Gaza, according to Reuters. 

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon has already voiced his objection to the resolution, saying that it “undermines” humanitarian aid relief and “ignores a working system in favor of political agendas.”

Since 2022, trade between the EU and Ukraine has been governed by a temporary framework known as Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs). Introduced after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the ATMs eliminated all tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU.

This offered a critical lifeline access to European markets for Ukrainian producers, especially for agricultural commodities such as grains, maize, eggs, and poultry, sustaining the country’s wartime economy.

However, the ATM scheme is due to expire on Thursday, and it cannot be renewed, having already been extended once.

Despite efforts since late 2024, the European Commission has failed to secure a permanent or improved replacement, leaving both Ukrainian exporters and EU policymakers scrambling.

This delay has frustrated several EU member states, many of whom had expected the Commission to secure a sustainable agreement with Ukraine ahead of the expiration deadline.

The political timing didn’t help: the Commission faced considerable pressure to avoid inflaming domestic tensions, particularly in Poland, where farmers have protested against the influx of Ukrainian imports.

With Poland’s presidential elections now behind, Brussels hopes negotiations for a longer-term trade framework can finally move forward.

Tariffs are reinstated

What happens when the tariff-free scheme expires? The most immediate consequence is the reintroduction of tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural goods.

In practical terms, this resets trade conditions between Ukraine and the EU to the situation before Russia’s 2022 invasion, with tariff lines and quotas from the pre-ATM era reinstated.

According to Ukrainian officials, this could cost the country over €3 billion annually in lost export revenue.

Because the year is nearly half over, quota limits will be applied on a seven-twelfths basis for the remainder of 2025, proportionally reflecting the reduced time window.

The impact will be significant. In 2024, nearly 60% of Ukraine’s total exports went to the EU, up from just over 39% in 2021, before the ATMs came into force.

The free access to EU markets has been a pillar of Ukraine’s economic resilience during wartime, helping to stabilise currency flows and sustain public funding.

This will have consequences for Ukraine’s war effort too

The loss of preferential market access is not merely an economic inconvenience: it could have direct consequences for Ukraine’s ability to fund its war effort.

Vitalii Koval, Ukraine’s minister of agrarian policy and food, highlighted during a recent visit to Brussels that agriculture represents a much larger share of Ukraine’s economy than it does in the EU.

One in five Ukrainians works in the agricultural sector, and its performance directly influences national revenues.

Ukrainian MP Yevheniia Kravchuk warned that failure to secure even a partial solution could result in a 1% drop in GDP, further straining the country’s wartime finances.

“Ukrainian companies have shifted their markets toward the EU. If exports decrease, tax revenues drop, those same taxes that fund our military,” she told Euronews.

The reintroduction of tariffs is also expected to suppress producer prices, increase market uncertainty and discourage private investment, hampering both recovery and reconstruction efforts in the longer term.

A stopgap while a new deal is negotiated

To avoid a sudden rupture in trade flows, the European Commission has prepared transitional measures to apply after the expiration of the ATMs. These were quietly approved two weeks ago by EU ambassadors as a precautionary step, though full details have yet to be published.

A European Commission spokesperson described the transitional measures as a “bridge” to allow time for a more comprehensive review of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), which is the long-term trade agreement underpinning relations before the ATMs.

Crucially, the Commission has stated that future trade will be based on the DCFTA, not an extension of the emergency ATMs.

This marks a clear shift, disappointing Ukrainian hopes of maintaining the same level of market access they enjoyed under the tariff-free regime.

Negotiations toward a revised DCFTA began formally with a meeting in Brussels on Monday afternoon. While details remain scarce, a Commission spokesperson said more clarity is expected “in the coming days”.

Earlier that day, EU ambassadors met to reaffirm the importance of establishing long-term, predictable trade relations with Ukraine, while also ensuring protections for European farmers, a politically sensitive group in several member states.

“It is an extremely important decision to be taken,” said MP Kravchuk. “When I hear that, since the full-scale invasion, the EU has spent more on Russian gas and oil than on aid to Ukraine—and now we are talking about cutting economic access meaning that Ukraine’s economy in the times of war will be shrinking—then it’s a questionable position, rather than a partnership one.”