Local officials reported a ‘massive’ drone attack on the Moscow region, ahead of crunch talks on ending the war between Ukrainian and US officials in Saudi Arabia.
ADVERTISEMENTAt least one person has been killed and three injured in a large overnight drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region, local officials said.
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said the casualties were in the towns of Vidnoye and Domodedovo, located just outside the capital. Seven apartments were also damaged.
In a post on social media, Vorobyov posted pictures reportedly showing one of the damaged apartments alongside burnt vehicles in a car park. He added that over a dozen — including children — had to be evacuated.
Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 70 drones were shot down as they flew towards the Russian capital.
The roof of a building in Moscow also sustained damage.
In total, the Russian military said air defences shot down 337 Ukrainian drones over 10 Russian regions, with the majority shot down over Kursk. At least 91 were shot down over the Moscow region.
Flights have been restricted in and out of six airports and traffic has been halted through the Domodedovo railway station in what appears to be one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia in three years.
Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the attack.
Overnight, Ukraine’s air force posted on Telegram that it shot down an Iskander-M ballistic missile and at least 79 drones in various regions across Ukraine, including Kyiv.
The attacks come as representatives from the US and Ukraine meet in Saudi Arabia for crunch talks focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Two senior Ukrainian officials told AP on Monday that the Ukrainian delegation would propose a ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes, as well as the release of Ukrainian prisoners held in Russia.
US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who will be present at the talks said ahead of discussions that the US would be taking stock of Ukraine’s proposals.
“I’m not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do. I think we want to listen to see how far they’re willing to go and then compare that to what the Russians want and see how far apart we truly are,” Rubio told reporters ahead of his arrival.
“It’s hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions, but that’s the only way this is going to end and prevent more suffering,” Rubio said, implying that Kyiv would have to consider or make concessions on its long-held ambitions for peace.
The US has cut off military aid to Ukraine as well as paused the flow of intelligence, although on Monday White House special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed to Fox News that the intelligence pause did not impact intelligence needed for Ukraine’s defence.
ADVERTISEMENT“We never shut off intelligence for … anything defensive that the Ukrainians need,” Witkoff said.
The Ukrainian delegation will be represented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s head of office, Andriy Yermak, the country’s national security advisers, and several defence and foreign ministers.
Rubio will head the US delegation alongside Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
Additional sources • AP
