Russian anti-aircraft defenses shot down more than 300 Ukrainian drones in the largest attack of its kind since the Kremlin ordered the large-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Two people died and 18 others were injured, including three minors, in the massive drone attack that affected 10 Russian regions, according to authorities. No major damage was reported.
Russia, for its part, launched 126 Shahed drones and other unmanned aircraft, as well as a ballistic missile towards Ukraine on Tuesday, reported the Ukrainian Air Force, as part of the Kremlin’s relentless bombardment of civilian areas during the war.
How was the attack of Ukraine against Russia?
Ukraine has invested a lot in the development of its armaments industry, especially in high-tech drones that have reached the interior of Russian territory.
Most of the Ukrainian drones launched during the night -126- were shot down in the border region of Kursk, parts of which are controlled by Ukrainian forces, and 91 more were shot down in the Moscow region, explained a statement from the Kremlin’s Ministry of Defense.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said that more than 70 drones targeted the Russian capital and were shot down as they headed there, in the largest single attack against Moscow since the start of the war.
Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, which surrounds the Russian capital, pointed out that the operation caused damage to several residential buildings and vehicles.
The landing and takeoff of planes at six airports, including Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Zhukovsky, and Sheremetyevo on the outskirts of Moscow, as well as in the regions of Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod, were temporarily restricted.
Negotiations for a ceasefire in Saudi Arabia
Hours after the attack, high-level talks began in Saudi Arabia between delegations from Ukraine and the United States on how to end the war between Kiev and Moscow that has been going on for three years.
In the Saudi city of Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea, reporters were briefly allowed into the room where the high-level Ukrainian delegation met with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to discuss the end of the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Neither Ukrainian nor American authorities immediately commented on the drone attack in Russia.