Russia said it had downed hundreds of attack drones in Ukraine’s biggest such strike of the war and warned its people against donning “rose-tinted glasses” over prospects for relations with the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces intercepted 343 Ukrainian drones over 10 regions in the early hours of Tuesday, in a barrage that killed at least three people, injured 17 others and forced the temporary closure of four airports around Moscow.
“The largest ever attack by enemy drones on Moscow has been repelled,” said the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin. “Seventy-four combat drones were shot down on their way to Moscow, with hundreds more intercepted at various points.”
The attack took place as senior Ukrainian officials prepared to meet a high-level US delegation in Saudi Arabia to discuss how Europe’s biggest war since 1945 could be brought to an end, and after heavy Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine over the weekend killed more than a dozen people.
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Analysts in Ukraine said the strike highlighted the country’s considerable strength in the field of long-range drones, which can now hit targets many hundreds of kilometres inside Russia, and served as a rebuff to repeated claims from Mr Trump that Moscow holds all “the cards” in advance of possible peace negotiations.
Kyiv said several fuel facilities that supply Russia’s invasion force were targeted, following strikes on several such sites in recent weeks, which underlined the significance of Ukraine’s proposal that both countries halt air and sea attacks and strikes on energy infrastructure as a first step towards a potential settlement.
“The largest drone attack in history was carried out on Moscow and the Moscow region,” said Ukraine’s national security and defence council spokesman Andriy Kovalenko. ”This is an additional signal to [Vladimir] Putin that he should also be interested in a ceasefire in the air,” he added.
Some Russian officials reacted with fury to the bombardment, which Ukraine launched despite Mr Trump ordering a halt last week to US intelligence sharing with Kyiv on offensive operations against Russia. The US restored intelligence sharing on Tuesday night following the discussions with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
“This is yet another signal to the international community – to the so-called collective West, which in reality is anything but united – that the monster they nurtured, fed, armed and showered with money is now completely out of control,” said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. “This illustrates the Kyiv regime’s terrorist nature and, of course, proves that Russia is prevailing on the battlefield.”
Many Russian politicians have revelled in the dramatic shift in US foreign policy since Mr Trump took power in January, in particular his signalling that US security guarantees for western Europe are no longer a given and his warning that Ukraine should not expect to regain all occupied territory or join Nato under any peace deal with Moscow.
Even before Tuesday’s meeting between US and Ukrainian officials – during which Ukraine agreed to a 30 day ceasefire and US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the offer would now be taken to Moscow – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged Russians not to expect too much from Mr Trump and his hopes for a rapprochement with Moscow. Mr Peskov’s comments came despite White House officials and Trump allies such as Elon Musk – whose SpaceX firm provides Starlink satellite internet services to Ukraine – subjecting Kyiv to frequent and often unfounded criticism.
“Many are now rushing to put on rose-tinted glasses, saying that now the Americans will stop supplying weapons or have already stopped, that now Musk will turn off his communication systems and everything will work out for us – everything is working out for us without this,” Mr Peskov said. “You should always hope for the best but still be prepared for the worst. We must always be ready to defend our interests.”
