Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 343 Ukrainian drones overnight, in what was the largest cross-border aerial attack on Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022.
At least two were killed and eight were injured, authorities said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced the barrage as “a terrorist attack” in a statement posted on Telegram.
The ministry reported downing UAVs over 10 Russian regions. Moscow air defenses were firing through the night while facing multiple waves of attack drones, according to the mayor Sergei Sobyanin. The Defense Ministry said it shot down 91 drones over the capital.
Six drones were shot down near the Kursk nuclear power plant, which is close to fighting as Russian forces seek to expel Ukrainian troops from the western Russian region.
Sobyanin wrote on Telegram that the attack on Moscow was “massive,” . Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said at least two people were killed and eight injured in the capital.
Several high-rise residential buildings, houses and businesses were damaged by drones or falling debris, he added.
Flights were suspended at all four of Moscow’s airports, the federal air agency said, with flights also grounded at airports east of Moscow.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said details of the attack were “naturally” reported to President Vladimir Putin and suggested Ukraine had targeted civilian facilities, state-run Tass news agency reported.
The Ukrainian military has not commented on the strikes.
The drone barrage came as U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators were opening ceasefire talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday after weeks of tensions and public disagreements.
President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing Kyiv to make concessions in pursuit of a peace deal to end Russia’s three-year-old invasion of the country.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it will not accept any deal that does not include concrete security guarantees to prevent repeat Russian aggression in the future.
