Is Ukraine turning the tide with strikes deep inside Russia?

Kyiv's armed forces on Monday released a statement claiming to have damaged two Russian fighter jets located almost 700km deep inside Russian territory amid attempts to impede Moscow's constant overnight bombardment of Ukraine.

According to their statement, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces infiltrated and attacked the Savasleyka airfield in Nizhny Novgorod, which Russia primarily uses for the deployment of MiG-31K fighters carrying Kinzhal ballistic missiles that have been used regularly in its conflict with Ukraine, a Guardian report said.

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The covert attack, which reportedly took place in the early hours of Monday, destroyed two aircraft, estimated to be a MiG-31 and an Su-30 (or Su-34).

This follows another attack on a JSC VNIIR-Progress facility (as well as an ABS Electro facility) in the Russian city of Cheboksary, Ukrainian media reported on Monday, a claim substantiated by Ukraine's armed forces. 

The targeted facilities were a part of Russia's military-industrial complex, responsible for producing a crucial component used in Shahed-type attack drones, planning and correction modules for guided aerial bombs (KAB), and other precision-guided weapons, the armed forces had said.

Just last week, Ukraine undertook its daring Operation Spider Web, which it claimed to have destroyed 15 warplanes deep inside Russian territory—crippling Moscow's air arsenal by about 10 per cent. 

Russia has since vowed “inevitable” retribution, following which it increased the intensity of drone, missile and guided bombs launched on Ukraine, killing about 10 people and injuring more than a 100 so far.

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The army statement has so far not provided any details about the nature of the operation or the total damage it inflicted in the area.

This operation did not have any impact on the prisoner exchange, which took place after a delay of almost two days that saw both nations accusing each other of not abiding by the prisoner exchange agreement formed at the second round of the Istanbul peace negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Monday evening that prisoners (POWs) under the age of 25 had finally been exchanged.