Ukraine has launched a “massive” early morning drone attack against the Russian capital that killed at least one person, injured several others and saw the shutdown of airports and damaged residential buildings, Moscow officials and aviation authorities said.
The drone raid, the largest against Moscow in months, comes as Ukraine is poised to present the United States with a plan for a partial ceasefire with Russia during talks on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia.
Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, said that one person was killed and three more wounded as a result of the raid, which began at 4am local time (01:00 GMT). The wave of attack drones damaged seven apartments in a residential building in the Moscow region’s Ramenskoye district, Vorobyov said.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said that air defences destroyed a total of 337 Ukrainian drones overnight, with 91 of them over the Moscow region
Earlier, Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described “a massive attack by enemy drones on Moscow”, which was being repelled by Russian air defences.
Sobyanin said drones were downed over Ramenskoye and also the Domodedovo district of the Moscow region. Both districts lie about 40km (25 miles) to 50km (30 miles) south and southeast of the Kremlin
Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsia said flights were restricted in and out of four Moscow airports, including Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky to the south of the city and Sheremetyevo to the north as a result of the drone attack.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv on the drone raid, which came ahead of Ukrainian and US officials meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss a ceasefire deal with Russia.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz will attend the talks, which will be the most senior meeting with Kyiv officials since a disastrous White House meeting on February 28, when Trump publicly berated Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Since Trump’s tirade against Zelenskyy in the White House for apparent ingratitude for US military support, Washington has suspended aid to Ukraine as well as intelligence sharing and access to satellite imagery in a bid to force Kyiv to the negotiating table.
Zelenskyy left the White House without signing an agreement demanded by Trump that would give the US access to much of Ukraine’s mineral wealth as compensation for past weapons supplies.
The Ukrainian leader, who has since written a repentant letter to Trump following their meeting, flew to the port city of Jeddah to meet Saudi rulers on Monday evening but was leaving the talks on Tuesday to three top aides.
In a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in advance of the US-Ukraine talks, Zelenskyy discussed Ukraine’s conditions for any permanent peace deal, including the release of prisoners and the return of children Kyiv accuses Moscow of abducting, the Ukrainian leader’s office said in a statement on Monday.
The two leaders “discussed the possible mediation of Saudi Arabia in the release of military and civilian prisoners and the return of deported children”, the statement said.
“The leaders exchanged views on the formats of security guarantees and what they should be for Ukraine so that war does not return again,” it added.
Source: Al-Jazeera
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