Ukraine has targeted Moscow with a large overnight drone attack as Russia’s Ministry of Defence says it has shot down 337 unmanned aircraft across the country.
“The Defence Ministry’s air defence continues to repel a massive attack by enemy drones on Moscow,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram early on Tuesday.
Three people are reported to have been killed and three wounded in the southern suburbs of Moscow, according to Governor Andrei Vorobyov.
He added that drone debris damaged at least seven units in a residential building in another suburb southeast of the city.
The attack on the Russian capital, hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border, comes before a meeting between United States and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine is to present a plan for a partial ceasefire with Russia as it hopes to restore support from what had been its biggest supplier of military aid.
President Donald Trump, who last month unilaterally launched talks with the Kremlin, has demanded Kyiv make concessions to end the war, which began three years ago when Russia invaded the country and later sought to annex four of its regions.
The talks in Saudi Arabia will be the most senior since a disastrous White House meeting last month when Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of ingratitude and demanding he make a deal with Russia.
Washington has since suspended military aid, intelligence sharing and access to satellite imagery for Kyiv in a bid to force it to the negotiating table.
A Ukrainian official said Tuesday’s drone attack should encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept the proposals Kyiv plans to present in Saudi Arabia.
“The largest drone attack in history was carried out on Moscow and the Moscow region,” said Andriy Kovalenko, a National Security and Defence Council official. “This is an additional signal to Putin that he should also be interested in a ceasefire in the air.”
