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Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Russia yet, Moscow authorities said last night.
Approximately 337 drones were allegedly shot down by the Russian military – 91 of which were supposedly targeting the Moscow region – just before Ukraine is set to start peace talks with the US in Saudi Arabia today.
The reported attack came after America’s top diplomat Marco Rubio warned Ukraine will have to cede land to Russia to end the war on Monday.
Moscow’s city mayor Sergei Sobyanin said it was the largest Ukrainian drone attack on the city after three years of war.
At least one person is known to have died and three others were injured while all four of Moscow’s airports were suspended.
Ukraine has previously said its strikes are meant to hit infrastructure crucial to Russia’s war effort and as a form of retaliation, considering the Kremlin has been bombarding Ukrainian land for three years.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, suggested the attack was linked to a visit from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s Secretary General, Feridun Sinirlioglu, on Wednesday.
According to Russia’s state news agency TASS, She said: “This is not the first time that a high-level foreign delegation’s visit to Moscow is accompanied by a Ukrainian drone attack.
“Last night, the Kiev [sic] regime launched drones at the capital, which is expected to host the OSCE secretary general.
“Notably, the OSCE is the organisation that Zelensky’s sponsors have turned into a talking shop, making it unable to serve its initial goal of ensuring security and cooperation in Europe.”
But the US’s Marco Rubio warned late on Monday night that Ukraine must be “prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians will”.
Trump’s team has not asked Russia to make any concessions in the name of peace as yet.
He said: “Both sides need to come to an understanding that there’s no military solution to this situation. The Russians can’t conquer all of Ukraine and obviously it’ll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014.”
Although he is in the country, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not be involved in the talks.
His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, will attend in his place and try to pitch a peace deal which does not involve too many sacrifices from Ukraine.
Donald Trump will be represented by Rubio and there will be no officials from Russia as they intend to speak bilaterally just to the US.
Ukraine is expected to suggest a ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missiles, while also indicated that Kyiv is ready to sign a deal to share its minerals wealth with the States.
The meeting follows Zelenskyy’s dramatic trip to the Oval Office, where Trump and vice-president JD Vance accused Ukraine of being ungrateful for America’s support during the war.
The Ukrainian president left the White House early, but later wrote to his US counterpart expressing his gratitude for the States’ backing and said he was ready to talk about peace.
Meanwhile, Trump is yet to resume military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine.
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