"Now the war has come to us!" Russians speak out after drone attacks from Ukraine: It was a fiery inferno

For more than three years, most citizens in Russia have seen the war — sparked by the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — as a distant reality. Now, after a bold attack by Ukraine that included sending dozens of stealth drones into Russian territory and using them on June 1 to destroy dozens of long-range bombers, some say the war has come to their doorstep. In the Irkutsk, Murmansk, Ryazan and Ivanovo regions, drones have struck air bases, shocking Russian authorities and citizens.

"It was a fiery inferno," residents of the Irkutsk region told Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL). In Siberia, some 4,000 kilometers from the front line, residents appeared shocked.

"Now the war has come to us," some told REL's Siberia Realities. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said dozens of long-range bombers were attacked across Russia, with drones that had been smuggled in via trucks and launched from nearby points.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called the operation an “absolutely brilliant result” that had been in the works for more than a year and a half. According to eyewitnesses, the drones were launched from a truck that had stopped on the R-255 “Siberia” highway. This information was also confirmed by the regional governor, Igor Kobzev, who said that this was the first drone attack in Siberia. At the Belaya military base in the village of Sredni in the Irkutsk region, a drone attack destroyed at least one transport plane, according to a witness, who said that the attack lasted at least an hour and a half.

"I saw the whole horror through binoculars – it was a truly terrifying sight," a man who identified himself as Roman told REL.

"First we heard an explosion and saw a big plume of smoke. At first I thought another plane had crashed – two months ago a bomber had crashed from this airfield.

"Then, I clearly saw four powerful explosions. Because, after each explosion, gray smoke started coming out... And, when they hit the carrier aircraft, the whole airfield looked like it was on fire ," he added.

Another witness from the town of Buret, near the airfield, said: "Our house was shaken several times by the wave of explosions ." The June 1 attack is seen as another major humiliation for Russia's military and intelligence services, as Ukraine appears to have been waging a covert, low-level campaign inside Russian territory for months. Kiev does not usually claim responsibility for these attacks - which involve the use of drones and possibly special forces to hit fuel depots, pipelines and other facilities near the Ukrainian border.

Reports of the June 1 drone strikes emerged just hours after two incidents that damaged rail infrastructure in western Russia, killing at least eight people. It was not immediately clear whether the two incidents, which occurred on May 31 in Bryansk and in the early hours of June 1 in Kursk, were related. The National Investigative Committee blamed “illegal interference,” without providing further details. In Irkutsk, Governor Kobzev appealed for calm among the region’s residents, but some said they were tired of the fighting.

"The war is in its fourth year, what will happen in the fifth? If you don't know how to fight, make peace, don't be ashamed any longer," said a woman who introduced herself as Marina.

Others also began to question the authorities' ability to protect them, especially when a truck could penetrate so deep into the territory and be used in such an operation – implying that it would not be the last attack.

"How? How is it possible? How did they let these trucks pass? There are so many questions," said a woman, who introduced herself as Svetlana.

In the Murmansk region, Governor Andrei Chibis confirmed another drone attack, which was launched from a truck parked near the city of Olenegorsk. Witnesses in the area told Siberia Realities they saw at least 10 explosions at the air base.

"The war has begun in Olenegorsk. Smoke from explosions is rising behind the forest ," a witness said, adding that the driver of the truck, which may have been transporting the drones, had been arrested by police./ REL