Ukrainian drones have increasingly targeted the Russian capital over the past week
Ukraine has launched a major drone raid on Moscow and surrounding areas, with more than a dozen UAVs shot down just hours after Kiev claimed it was ready for another round of talks with Russia.
Air defenses intercepted at least 15 drones en route to the Russian capital as of 2:30am Sunday morning, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said. He reported no significant damage or casualties on the ground, adding that emergency services were responding at the debris crash sites.
Kiev has intensified attempted drone attacks on Moscow over the past week, according to Sobyanin, who has reported similar nightly raids since Wednesday. Ukraine has conducted UAV raids deep into Russian territory for months, often striking residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. The Russian government has denounced the strikes as “terrorist attacks” that deliberately target civilians.
The latest raid comes just hours after Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky proposed holding a third round of talks with Russia in Istanbul next week. At their most recent meeting in June, the Russian delegation offered a conditional ceasefire, stating that Moscow would agree to a truce if Kiev took meaningful steps to deescalate, including suspending Western military aid deliveries – an offer Kiev rejected.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kiev is seeking an unconditional pause in the fighting to rearm and regroup its forces. Moscow has warned that it will not tolerate the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine, even under the guise of peacekeepers.
