Ukrainian drones pummeled Moscow overnight, only hours before high-stakes talks began in Saudi Arabia between officials from Ukraine and the United States. The attack on the Russian capital, using long-range one-way attack drones, was the biggest of the conflict so far, local officials claimed.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine launched 337 drones at Russia overnight, with 91 of these targeting the Moscow region. The attacks on the capital region killed at least three people, set buildings ablaze, and forced the suspension of flights at all four of Moscow’s airports, as well as rail services.
Two other airports, in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions east of Moscow, were also closed.
Photos and videos posted to social media showed scenes of destruction in the Ramenskoye district, around 30 miles southeast of the Kremlin, and in Domodedovo, in Moscow’s southern suburbs, where a supermarket and adjacent parking lot were struck. This killed three security guards and damaged about 40 vehicles, Russian authorities said.
Witnesses said that the drone strikes began around 3:00 a.m. this morning, local time. Some Russian citizens took to the Telegram messaging app to complain about the apparent lack of early warning from Russia’s emergency services.
According to the Russian news outlet Kommersant, Ukraine mainly used its homegrown Liutyi (Fierce) drones for the latest strikes on Moscow.
However, at least one unverified video shows what appears to be a Ukrainian version of the Shahed/Geran series, which is the primary long-range one-way attack drone used by Russia to strike targets across Ukraine.
It’s unclear how many of the Ukrainian drones were successfully intercepted by Russian air defenses, although exorbitant claims have been made regularly in the past.
On this occasion, Shot, a Telegram channel with links to the security services, cited a former Russian serviceman who reportedly shot down one of the drones with a hunting rifle in a small village outside Moscow.
While Ukrainian drone strikes on targets deep inside Russia, including the capital, have been a feature of the conflict for many months, the overnight raids were clearly timed to send a message ahead of today’s talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
A senior Ukrainian official said the drone attack should encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept the terms of an aerial ceasefire proposed by Kyiv.
“The largest drone attack in history was carried out on Moscow and the Moscow region,” said Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian national security council official responsible for countering disinformation. He added, “This is an additional signal to Putin that he should also be interested in a ceasefire in the air.”
The large-scale — apparently unprecedented — Ukrainian drone strikes are intended to signal clearly to Moscow and Washington that Kyiv won’t accept an unfavorable peace deal and remains committed to repulsing the full-scale Russian invasion.
This is a reality that has also been picked up by Russian sources.
“The meaning behind this largest drone attack on the Moscow region is clear — it coincides with the start of negotiations in Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine will try to push for an air and naval ceasefire that is entirely unfavorable to Russia,” wrote the popular pro-Kremlin channel MIG Russia on Telegram.
“The raid is meant to suggest that such a decision would supposedly benefit all parties … But it won’t work,” the channel added.
There has not yet been a formal statement from the Kremlin about Kyiv’s proposal for a partial ceasefire, which is expected to include, among others, an end to aerial drone and missile strikes and a suspension of military activity in the Black Sea. However, previous similar suggestions have been rejected by Moscow, which has accused Ukraine of looking to find ways for a pause in the fighting that will allow it to rebuild its military for a future counteroffensive.
Ukraine’s position is made more complicated by the strained relationship with the United States, which has now hit pause on military support for Ukraine, as well as access to intelligence and satellite feeds.
In an effort to try to rebuild the relationship after a disastrous meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington at the end of last month, which you can read about here, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Saudi Arabia yesterday.
In addition to pushing for a partial ceasefire on its terms, Ukraine also aims to persuade the Trump administration to restart intelligence-sharing and military aid. There are also the issues of hostage exchanges and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. These are also likely to figure prominently in the talks.
For Kyiv, the talks with officials from the United States are far from the only critical aspect of the conflict right now.
There is also the increasing difficulty of holding territory in the Kursk region of western Russia, where Ukrainian forces launched a large-scale incursion last August. While you can read more about the current situation on the ground in Kursk here, it’s notable that the overnight drone raids also apparently struck multiple targets in this region. Russian authorities said that more than 100 drones were launched toward the Kursk region.
Today, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its troops had regained more than 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles) of territory and 12 settlements in Kursk in recent days.
It’s also worth noting that heavy airstrikes have not been all one-way traffic.
An especially heavy Russian attack using long-range one-way attack drones and cruise missiles was prosecuted against Ukraine on the night of March 6-7. According to an assessment from the U.K. Ministry of Defense, up to 35 Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles were launched, together with sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles, short-range ballistic missiles, and as many as 100 aerial drones. The main targets appear to have been related to Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which Russia repeatedly strikes, especially in the winter months.
As for the meeting in Jeddah, it’s widely expected that U.S. demands for some kind of minerals deal with Ukraine will be at the center of the discussions, which involve U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Ukrainian counterparts.
Asked on Fox News if he thought Ukraine could sign the minerals deal this week, Trump Middle East aide Steve Witkoff said: “I am really hopeful. All the signs are very, very positive.”
If the parties are able to hammer out some kind of a peace proposal, the big question is what the military terms and conditions will look like.
Rubio has previously said that “both sides need to come to an understanding that there’s no military solution to this situation.”
“I’m not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do. I think we want to listen to see how far they’re willing to go and then compare that to what the Russians want and see how far apart we truly are,” Rubio added.
For Russia, Washington’s new approach toward Ukraine has been celebrated. After three years of a steadfast U.S.-led bulwark against Russian aggression in Ukraine, Trump’s decision to try and extend his rapport with the Russian leader has altered the dynamics of the conflict and geopolitical relations.
Russian officials are now indicating that behind-the-scenes discussions between officials in Washington and the Kremlin have been stepped up. Reports today indicate that Trump’s special envoy, Witkoff, plans to visit Moscow to meet Putin for talks.
While the United States will likely continue to take a hard line with Ukraine in the Saudi talks, there are still plenty more challenges ahead if a ceasefire is to be negotiated, not least Russian willingness to accept whatever kind of deal emerges from today’s meeting.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com