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KYIV — Ukraine last night launched its biggest drone attack on Moscow since the start of the war with Russia, according to Russian officials, hours before a delegation from Kyiv was due to meet with United States representatives for peace talks in Saudi Arabia.
The Russian military said it shot down 337 Ukrainian drones over 10 Russian regions, while media reports said that at least one person was killed and several wounded.
“The most massive drone attack on Moscow has been repelled tonight. Some 74 drones were shot down near Moscow, and hundreds at different frontiers,” the city’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a statement.
Ukraine has not yet taken direct responsibility for the strikes, but officials in Kyiv hinted that the attack was a signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian government’s center for countering disinformation, said in a video statement: “All the drone strikes in Russia tonight — on Moscow, on airports and so on — are the signal to Putin that he also must be interested in a truce in the sky that Ukraine is going to offer today during talks. Not only oil refineries … Drones can also massively attack Moscow. Of course, air defense shoots down those drones. But this does not save Russians from panic.”
In Jeddah today, a Ukrainian delegation headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will meet representatives from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Ukrainians say they are hoping for “constructive dialogue” and a resumption of U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing, while the Americans want to determine whether Kyiv is serious about peace with Russia and what concessions it is prepared to offer to achieve it.
“Among other things, we will offer truce in the sky and at sea. But Russians also have to agree to it. Because it is about mutual actions, but from our side it is a serious proposal,” a Ukrainian official told POLITICO, after being granted anonymity to discuss confidential negotiations.
“We hope for constructive dialogue. And, in general, the composition of the Ukrainian delegation demonstrates that Ukraine is serious about this meeting and its goal. It is a truly high-level delegation.”
This story has been updated.
