Two of the airbases Ukraine said it had hit, Olenya and Belaya, are around 1,900 kilometres (1,180 miles) and 4,300 kilometres from Ukraine. The first is located in the Russian Arctic, the other in eastern Siberia.

The Russian ministry said it successfully countered other attacks in the regions of Ivanovo and Ryazan as well as in Amur, near the border with China in the Russian Far East.

Consequence and symbolism

The consequences of the attacks on Russian military capabilities are difficult to estimate at this stage.

Ukraine suffers from almost daily air attacks that have strained its air defence capabilities in recent weeks.

Russian military bloggers lamented a "black day for aviation" after the Ukrainian attack.

Rybar, an account on the Telegram messaging platform that is close to the Russian military, called it a "very heavy blow" and pointed to what it called "serious errors" by Russian intelligence.

But the symbolic significance is important for Ukraine, whose army has been facing setbacks on the front.

Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, now an opposition figure, said there were "no better arguments" for Ukraine on the eve of talks with Moscow in Istanbul.

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