A former Ukrainian officer who heads the analytical group Frontelligence Insight told the British publication that while the defeats are unlikely to have a direct impact on Russia's position on the battlefield, they remain significant.

"They reduce Russia's strategic capabilities, and that means the ability to project power on a global scale, to deliver nuclear strikes and a comprehensive military presence in Eurasia," he said. He said the Ukrainian attack would damage Russia's"geopolitical self-esteem."

A Ukrainian official quoted by Axios said Ukraine did not notify the Trump administration in advance of the attack. A U.S. official also told reporters that the Trump administration was unaware of the attack, the publication added.

Kyiv Post reports, citing SBU sources, that the operation was personally led by Zelensky and carried out by SBU chief Vasily Malyuk and his team. The publication reports that the drones were secretly brought into Russia and hidden under mobile wooden houses mounted on trucks, with the drones being remotely launched to strike Russian bombers. Russian military vlogger Sergei Kolyasnikov wrote on Telegram, quoted by TWZ, that the containers with drones were assembled in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, located near the border with Kazakhstan.