British soldiers will be granted new powers to shoot down drones threatening military bases. The plans, to be unveiled by Defence Secretary John Healey in a speech on Monday, are intended to allow troops to take faster, more decisive action. Four British airbases used by US forces reported mystery drone sightings last year, while drones have disrupted airspace across Europe a number of times in recent months. The new powers will only apply to military sites, but could be extended to civilian locations such as airports. Healey is set to announce the introduction of a kinetic option, first reported by the Daily Telegraph, that would enable British troops or Ministry of Defence (MoD) police to shoot drones posing a threat to a military site in the UK.

Russia's increased sense of vulnerability may be the most important result of a recent large-scale Ukrainian drone attack named Operation Spiderweb, experts tell Al Jazeera. The operation destroyed as much as a third of Russia's strategic bomber fleet on the tarmac of four airfields deep inside Russia on June 1. Days later, Russia started to build shelters for its bombers and relocate them. An open source intelligence (OSINT) researcher nicknamed Def Mon posted time-lapse satellite photographs on social media showing major excavations at the Kirovskoe airfield in annexed Crimea as well as in Sevastopol, Gvardiyskoye and Saki, where Russia was constructing shelters for military aircraft. They reported similar work at several airbases in Russia, including the Engels base, which was targeted in Ukraine's attacks on June 1.

On 1 June, Ukraine stunned the world with an audacious attack against Russian airbases. Using cheap, small drones concealed inside trucks that had penetrated deep into Russian territory, Ukraine was able to hit dozens of nuclear-capable strategic bombers, taking out 7 billion of military hardware. The drone-smuggling attack, codenamed Operation Spiderweb, was an incredible feat of military planning – but it also highlighted a vulnerability that has defence chiefs around the world concerned that their assets could be hit next. "The risk potentials of small drone attacks to US or UK air bases right now are 100 per cent," says Robert Bunker at US consultancy firm C/O Futures. "You simply need a group with the intent and capability, which is a very low bar to overcome."

With Operation Spider's Web, Ukraine inflicted the worst attack on Russian air power since World War II. The final damage is yet to be determined, but one tally is nine Tu-95s and three Tu-22M3 bombers gone, along with an A-50 "Mainstay" radar plane and an unlucky An-22 transport plane. Whatever the final count, the strategic impact is clear. Never before have drones taken out a big chunk of a nuclear-capable bomber force. Unlike tanks, Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot replace his bombers because none are still in production.

Ukraine has destroyed Russian strategic bombers in an unprecedented undercover drone operation while Russia launched its biggest-yet air raid on Ukraine's cities and intensified attacks on its northern region of Sumy, when the two sides met for peace talks in Istanbul. The two respective drone operations were emblematic of how direct peace talks, which began on May 15, have not abated the intensity of the conflict and may have deepened it. Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly pledged a response. Russia's drone-and-missile attack on Saturday night involved 472 Shahed kamikaze drones, four cruise missiles and three ballistic missiles. Ukraine neutralised 385 aerial targets, its air force said, including three of the cruise missiles.

Ukrainian drones struck multiple military airbases deep inside Russia on Sunday in a major operation a day before the neighbours held peace talks in Istanbul. The Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine had launched drone strikes targeting Russian military airfields across five regions, causing several aircraft to catch fire. The attacks occurred in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. Air defences repelled the assaults in all but two regions – Murmansk and Irkutsk, the ministry said. "In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire," the Defence Ministry said.

Officials say multiple military airbases have come under drone attacks in Russia in a major operation taking place ahead of peace talks with Ukraine due to start in Istanbul on Monday. The Russian Defence Ministry said that Ukraine had launched drone strikes targeting Russian military airfields across five regions on Sunday, causing several aircraft to catch fire. The attacks occurred in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. Air defences repelled the assaults in all but two regions – Murmansk and Irkutsk, the ministry said. "In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire," the ministry said.

Sudan's army says the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked a military airbase and other facilities in the vicinity of Port Sudan airport. The army said on Sunday that the airbase was targeted using a drone, as well as a cargo warehouse and some civilian facilities, in the first attack in the eastern city by the RSF. There are reports of some damage after drones hit an ammunition depot. "Both the civilian and military airports are in the same place. What we know from residents in the port city is that five drones were launched by the RSF and targeted the airbase," Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan said, reporting from the capital, Khartoum.

United States troops in Iraq have been targeted in new attacks using drones and explosives, according to military and security sources. Three attacks took place on Thursday, the sources said, adding to the more than 40 assaults that US and allied troops based across the Middle East have come under since the Israel-Hamas war started on October 7. As well as two drone assaults at bases, a US-led coalition convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the vicinity of Mosul Dam. The security sources said the patrol was accompanied by Iraqi counterterrorism forces and that a vehicle in the patrol was damaged. Three US troops sustained minor injuries but had returned to duty, the official added.

Libya's government denied reports it is responsible for drone attacks that hit an airbase in the east used by mercenaries of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner. The origin of the early Friday attack on the Al-Kharruba airbase, 150km (90 miles) southwest of Benghazi, was unclear but it caused no casualties. Army Chief of Staff General Mohamad al-Haddad denied the Tripoli-based authorities had anything to do with the raid. "None of our aircraft targeted any site in the east," al-Haddad said, according to the Libyan news website Addresslibya. "These reports are aimed at stoking a new war between Libyan brothers and involving Libya in a regional conflict."