Ukraine launches large drone attack on Russia, Moscow says, ahead of U.S.-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia

The attack came as a Ukrainian delegation was set to meet in Saudi Arabia with America’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, about ending the three-year war with Russia.

The talks reflect a new diplomatic push after an unprecedented argument erupted during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Feb. 28 visit to the White House, and a cutoff of U.S. military aid to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. 

The most drones – 126 – were shot down over the Kursk region across the border from Ukraine, parts of which Kyiv’s forces control, and 91 were shot down over the Moscow region, according to a statement by Russia’s Defense Ministry. Other regions listed in the statement included Belgorod, Bryansk and Voronezh on the border with Ukraine and those deeper inside Russia, such as Kaluga, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol and Ryazan.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down a ballistic Iskander-M missile and 79 of 126 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, the Reuters news agency reported. Thirty-five more drones didn’t reach targets, probably as a result of electronic warfare countermeasures, the air force said. It didn’t spell out what happened to the other 12 drones.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 70 drones targeted the Russian capital and were shot down as they were flying toward it.

“The Defense Ministry’s air defense continues to repel a massive attack by enemy drones on Moscow,” Sobyanin said on Telegram early Tuesday, according to Agence France-Presse.

Commuters went to work as usual in central Moscow and there were no signs of panic in the city, Reuters reported, adding that Moscow is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in Europe with a population of at least 21 million when the region around it is included.

The governor of the Moscow region surrounding the capital, Andrei Vorobyov, said one person was killed and nine more wounded as a result of the attack, which also damaged several residential buildings and a number of cars.

One more person was wounded on a highway in the Lipetsk region, Gov. Igor Artamonov said.

Sobyanin said the roof of a building in Moscow also sustained damage, which he described as “insignificant.” Footage of the building, published by RIA Novosti, showed a charred spot on the facade of a multi-story residential building near the roof, with bits of the building’s lining stripped off.

Flights were restricted in and out of six airports, including Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky just outside Moscow and airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Later, Sheremetyevo Airport resumed flights, Reuters cites aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia as saying.

Train traffic through the Domodedovo railway station in the Moscow region was also been briefly halted, local officials reported.

Local authorities also reported downing drones in the Tula and Vladimir regions adjacent to the Moscow region. It wasn’t immediately clear why those regions weren’t mentioned in the Defense Ministry’s statement.