Ukraine fires largest drone barrage at Russia

Ukraine fires largest drone barrage at Russia

Ukraine launched the largest drone attack on the Moscow region in three years of Russia's offensive

Ukrainian drones smashed into high-rise apartment blocks on the outskirts of Moscow in the early hours of Tuesday, in what both sides called the largest attack targeting the Russian capital of the three-year-conflict.

The Kremlin condemned the strikes, which came hours before top US and Ukrainian officials sat down for talks in Saudi Arabia.

Three people were killed and several more wounded, while Russian oil supplies to Hungary were suspended after pipeline infrastructure was hit and dozens of flights had to be rerouted as Moscow airports were closed.

Kyiv said the strikes should push Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept its call for a halt to long-range aerial attacks, a proposal Moscow has previously ruled out.

Ukrainian and US diplomats were meeting for talks on ending the conflict, with Kyiv saying it would try to get Washington -- which has resumed talks with Moscow under President Donald Trump -- on board with the idea.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced Kyiv for targeting "residential houses", claiming Russia's own forces only hit military infrastructure, despite near daily attacks on Ukraine's civilian areas and thousands of Ukrainian civilians killed by its offensive.

Russia's army said it intercepted a total of 343 Ukrainian drones, some of which subsequently fell on "residential and economic infrastructure".

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called it the "most massive enemy drone attack on Moscow".

At the site of one attack, AFP journalists saw holes on the upper floors of an apartment block and broken glass and debris strewn across the asphalt.

The drones hit areas surrounding Moscow, including Ramenskoye which is home to an air base, and an area near Moscow's Domodedovo airport.

- 'All the neighbours jumped' -

"We were sleeping, there was an explosion, the children screamed," Yevgenia Bakatuyeva, a 38-year-old who lives in one of the apartment blocks that was hit in Sapronovo, south of Moscow, told AFP.

"I opened my door, and all the neighbours jumped out. Somebody had blood on them," she added.

Artyom, a 34-year-old car sales manager also living in the building, said he had "only seen such things on TV" and that it was "scary when in real life."

The conflict in Ukraine often feels distant in the Russian capital, where life has continued as Moscow's army advances and attacks Ukrainian cities. 

Ukraine has previously targeted Moscow, but deadly strikes so far away from the front lines are rare.

No air raid alert or siren was announced in the capital as 91 drones flew towards it, according to Russian defence ministry data.

Kyiv also said it hit infrastructure of the Druzhba oil pipeline that links Russia to eastern and central Europe.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Russian supplies had been "temporarily suspended", but should be resumed later Tuesday.

- Truce in the sky -

Russian aviation officials temporarily closed the four main airports serving Moscow and some 83 flights were rerouted.

Officials said three men were killed from falling drone debris, while several were hospitalised, including a child. 

In the Vladimir region, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of Moscow, a village of around 800 people was evacuated.

- 'Signal to Putin' -

"This is an additional signal to Putin that he should also be interested in a ceasefire in the air," said Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's National Security Council's Center for Countering Disinformation.

Kyiv said it would present the United States a plan to halt air and sea attacks in Tuesday's talks as it hopes to restore support from Washington.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Saudi Arabia for the meeting, indicated the idea had promise.

Russia has previously ruled out partial ceasefires and the defence ministry said Kyiv launched the overnight attack to "demonstrate" its military capacity.

On the battlefield, Moscow said it retook 12 villages in its Kursk region from Ukrainian forces, territory Kyiv had hoped to use as leverage in peace negotiations, but where it has been losing ground.

Russia also said it captured the village of Dachne in eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv said Moscow had also launched a large-scale aerial barrage, firing a ballistic missile and 126 drones.

AFP journalists in Kyiv heard explosions overnight as air defence downed a wave of drones.

A Russian bomb attack on the eastern Donetsk region killed one person and wounded four, the regional governor said.

bur/rlp

Originally published as Ukraine fires largest drone barrage at Russia