Ukraine carried out its biggest drone attack on Moscow since the start of the war, just hours before peace talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
According to Russia’s defense ministry, 337 drones were launched overnight, killing three people. The attack also sparked several fires and caused disruptions to train services and flights.
On Tuesday, a senior Ukrainian official said the strike should push Putin to accept a proposed naval and aerial ceasefire during the upcoming negotiations.
Andriy Kovalenko, a national security council official, described it as “the biggest drone attack in history against the Moscow region” and emphasized that it should encourage Putin to agree to an aerial ceasefire.
According to Russia’s health ministry, 18 people were injured in the drone attacks on Moscow.
Russia’s aviation watchdog reported that flights were suspended at all Moscow airports, while two other airports in the Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl regions were also temporarily closed.
Images of the aftermath circulated on Russian Telegram channels, showing strikes on meat processing plants and parking lots. A drone attack in the Domodedovo suburb killed three security guards and damaged dozens of vehicles.
Tatyana, a shop owner in Domodedovo, described the terrifying night, saying she had been awake since 3 a.m. due to the attacks and that “it was the loudest night in three years.”
Many Moscow residents expressed frustration over the apparent lack of warning from emergency services. One resident in a local Telegram chat questioned how the drones managed to cross the border undetected and criticized the absence of alarms during the attack.
It remains unclear whether Russia’s defense systems detected all the drones heading toward Moscow.
A Russian Telegram channel linked to the security services claimed that a former serviceman shot down one of the drones with a hunting rifle just outside the city.
Ukraine frequently carries out drone attacks on Russian territory, often targeting key infrastructure linked to Moscow’s war efforts. This latest attack was the largest on Moscow this year, seemingly sending a message to Russian leaders that Kyiv is not willing to accept an unfavorable peace deal.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Saudi Arabia, seeking to negotiate better terms with the U.S. to help bring the war to an end.
Beyond Moscow, Ukraine also launched over 100 drones at Russia’s Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border.
Since the U.S. halted military and intelligence aid to Ukraine, Russia has strengthened its offensive in Kursk, posing a growing threat of encircling Ukrainian forces in the area.
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that the recent drone attack on Moscow was evidence that Russia is gaining the upper hand in the war.
