You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Russia and Ukraine Hold Talks in Istanbul as Ukraine War Intensifies

HeadlineJun 02, 2025

Russian and Ukrainian peace talks are taking place in Istanbul a day after Ukraine launched 117 drones in an unprecedented attack hitting Russian military bases as far away as Siberia. The attack reportedly damaged or destroyed about 40 Russian warplanes — about a third of Russia’s strategic missile bombers that are capable of carrying cruise and nuclear missiles. The strikes reportedly resulted in an estimated $7 billion in damage. Some commentators in Moscow have described the attack as Russia’s Pearl Harbor. The Ukrainian drones had been reportedly smuggled into Russia hidden inside containers on long-haul trucks. The attack came a day after Russia launched its largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the start of the war. On Sunday, Russia also struck a Ukrainian military training base, killing at least 12 soldiers and injuring 60 others.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top