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Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Two people injured in Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow region, governor says
Two people were injured in the Moscow region as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack overnight and on Friday, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said. 'Nine drones were shot down overnight and the day before in the skies over the region,' he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Separately, Russia's aviation watchdog said that the Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky airports in the Moscow region had temporarily suspended operations to ensure flight safety. It announced later that flights had resumed. The defense ministry said early on Saturday that since midnight air defense units intercepted and destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory, including the Moscow region.
Arabian Post
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Arabian Post
Massive Drone Barrage Hits Moscow, Exposing Russian Air Defense Gaps
Moscow and its surrounding regions experienced one of the most extensive aerial assaults since the onset of the conflict, as Russia's Defence Ministry reported intercepting 337 Ukrainian drones overnight. The attack resulted in at least three fatalities and significant disruptions across multiple sectors. Russian authorities confirmed that 91 drones were downed over the Moscow region, with 74 of these intercepted as they approached the capital. The remaining drones targeted areas including Kursk, Bryansk, Ryazan, and Nizhny Novgorod. This marks the largest drone offensive on Russian territory since the commencement of hostilities. Governor Andrei Vorobyov of the Moscow region reported that debris from the downed drones caused fires and structural damage in several districts. In Domodedovo, a drone struck the premises of the Miratorg distribution center, igniting a fire that destroyed approximately 20 vehicles and resulted in the death of a security guard. Additional casualties and injuries were reported in the towns of Vidnoye and Ramenskoye, where residential buildings sustained damage. ADVERTISEMENT The aerial assault prompted the temporary closure of all four major airports serving Moscow—Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky—as well as the suspension of services at Domodedovo railway station due to infrastructure damage. These disruptions underscore the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to such attacks. The timing of the drone offensive coincided with ongoing peace negotiations in Saudi Arabia between Ukrainian and U.S. delegations. Ukrainian officials have indicated that the scale of the attack serves as a strategic message to Moscow, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive ceasefire that includes aerial and naval operations. In response to the assault, Russian military analysts have raised concerns about the effectiveness of the country's air defense systems. Despite the high number of drones intercepted, the successful penetration of several unmanned aerial vehicles into the Moscow region highlights potential gaps in Russia's defensive capabilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated the importance of bolstering domestic drone production and enhancing military capabilities. His administration continues to advocate for increased international support, including the lifting of restrictions on advanced weaponry, to counter Russian aggression effectively.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine's drone strike shows it is not helpless without US intelligence
Ukraine's decision to launch a drone attack into Russia as the next phase of peace negotiations involving delegations from Washington and Kyiv began is a clear demonstration that its military capacity has not yet been significantly dented by Donald Trump's decision to withhold military intelligence last week. Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine had attacked with 337 drones, 91 of which were aimed at Moscow and the surrounding region. Three people were reported to have been killed, all four of the Russian capital's airports had to be closed, and local air defences were not entirely effective in repelling the assault. A handful of apartment buildings were visibly damaged, though not too seriously. Moscow's regional governor said that two people had been killed at a car park near a meat processing plant in Domodedovo, five miles from an airport. Fragments of a drone hit the ground, setting fire to cars shortly after 5am, Andrei Vorobyov wrote on his Telegram channel. Later, it was reported that a third man had died. Striking at civilian targets is never attractive, though the images were not dissimilar to those of Ukrainian cities hit nightly by Russian bombing over the past three years. Russia has also been increasing the scale of its drone attacks recently – on Monday it launched 126 Shahed drones, as well as other, decoy drones, into Ukraine, as well as a ballistic missile. Though it is not clear what targeting information Ukraine is working with now, there have been assurances by the French and British that they will continue to supply reconnaissance data gleaned from satellites and air- and ground-based surveillance, as well as open-source data. Moscow's airports, for example, cannot move and it is easy to force their closure with simply the threat of a drone attack. Tuesday night's attacks are a reminder of how far Ukraine's long-range drone capability (mostly manufactured indigenously) has developed, but is also a warning to Moscow that the loss of US intelligence – principally targeting information – is not likely to precipitate a battlefield collapse as diplomatic talks begin. Until Donald Trump's arrival in the White House, there had been no peace negotiations since spring 2022. That has been changed by the US president's willingness to talk to Russia's Vladimir Putin and lean on Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy – but it is anything but clear that Kyiv will choose this moment to give in. Critically, the revised military balance, without US intelligence, has yet to be established. On Thursday last week, a day after the US confirmed its decision, Russia launched an effort, with the help of North Korean troops, to recapture the remainder of the Kursk pocket held by Ukraine. It has forced the defenders back by between four and eight miles (6km and 12km) and into the outskirts of Sudhza, a village that Ukraine has occupied since August. Ukraine's position in the salient has deteriorated markedly, but it may well be a function of a concentrated Russian attack, rather than the beginnings of a rout caused by an absence of targeting data. The return of North Korean soldiers to the frontline, after a period in which they were reconstituted after taking heavy casualties, and reports of a heavy use of Russian drones both point to a determined offensive. There were reports of some totemic US weapons systems – such as the radar jammers on Ukraine's small fleet of F-16s jets – becoming non-functional. But the loss of capability in one area may be more than offset by gains elsewhere: the growing sophistication of Ukrainian jamming means that Russian glide bombs, once considered a wonder weapon, are increasingly inaccurate. A more open question is whether halting US military aid will significantly degrade the position of the Ukrainians over time, but if the diplomatic track does not bear fruit, experts believe Russia and Ukraine can carry on fighting at similar levels of intensity through the rest of 2025. Meanwhile, the battles of the moment, at least, are likely to be coloured heavily by the political discussions. Ukraine's attack into Russia is also designed to reinforce its proposal for an air truce – itself a counter to Trump's argument that Kyiv does not want peace. In reality, it is Ukraine that would gain the most from halting long-range missile and drone attacks, giving it a chance to rebuild its partly destroyed energy networks. So by striking into Russia, it can at least argue that Moscow would have something to gain. The problem is that military escalation is not the most obvious route to peace.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pictures show Moscow after biggest Ukraine drone attack in three years
Ukraine launched what is thought to be its largest drone attack on Moscow since the war with Russia began. It fired 91 drones on the Russian capital, with officials there saying at least two people have been killed, just as crucial peace talks got underway in Saudi Arabia between Ukraine and the US. The operation was part of a wider strike on Russia, with 337 Ukrainian drones launched, including 126 over the Kursk region, where Ukraine's troops have been pulling back. The drone attacks on Moscow sparked fires, closed airports and forced dozens of flights to be diverted. Cars were burnt out, apartment buildings were damaged and there was debris on the streets. Russian officials said a 38-year-old guard working in a car park and a 50-year-old man had been killed in the Moscow drone attack. On Tuesday morning, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences were still repelling attacks on the city. "The most massive attack of enemy UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) on Moscow has been repelled," he said in a post on Telegram. Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said some residents were forced to evacuate a multi-storey building in the Ramenskoye district. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of targeting residential apartment blocks in the attack on Moscow. It said the attack had killed at least two workers at a meat warehouse and injured 18 others. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "All (defensive) measures and actions were carried out in advance, in good time. And this allows for the protection of Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as many other regions." Flights at all four of Moscow's airports were suspended as a result of the attacks, while two other airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions east of Moscow were also closed. Russia has a series of electronic "umbrellas" over Moscow and its key installations, along with a complex web of air defences to shoot down drones before they reach the Kremlin. While repelling Russian drone attacks, Ukraine has tried to strike back with its own, targeting oil refineries and airfields on Russian soil. The drone attack took place as Ukrainian officials met an American team in Saudi Arabia in an effort to bring the three-year-long war to an end. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is hopeful the talks in Jeddah will revive ties with the US following his disastrous meeting with US president Donald Trump in the White House last month. Zelensky has suggested an initial truce with Russia in the air and at sea, and said ahead of the talks: "We hope for practical outcomes. Ukraine's position in these talks will be fully constructive." US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who is at the talks, said: "We have to understand the Ukrainian position and just have a general idea of what concessions they'd be willing to make, because you're not going to get a ceasefire and an end to this war unless both sides make concessions. "The Russians can't conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it'll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014." Rubio is joined at the table by US national security adviser Mike Waltz, while Ukraine's delegation is led by Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelensky, who was in Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but will not be joining the talks. British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer told Trump on Monday he wants the talks to have a 'positive outcome' that would see military aid and intelligence-sharing resume. Trump paused the supply of weapons and crucial information for Kyiv's war effort following his public spat with Zelensky. Map shows how much territory Ukraine has lost to Russia ahead of peace talks (Yahoo News UK) Flames light up Moscow sky after largest Ukraine drone attack in years (The Independent) Watch: Moscow Hit by 'Massive' Drone Attack, Russian Officials Say
Al Jazeera
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Ukraine targets Moscow with ‘massive' drone attack
Ukraine has targeted Moscow with a large overnight drone attack as Russia's Ministry of Defence says it has shot down 337 unmanned aircraft across the country. 'The Defence Ministry's air defence continues to repel a massive attack by enemy drones on Moscow,' Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram early on Tuesday. Three people are reported to have been killed and three wounded in the southern suburbs of Moscow, according to Governor Andrei Vorobyov. He added that drone debris damaged at least seven units in a residential building in another suburb southeast of the city. The attack on the Russian capital, hundreds of kilometres from the Ukrainian border, comes before a meeting between United States and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine is to present a plan for a partial ceasefire with Russia as it hopes to restore support from what had been its biggest supplier of military aid. President Donald Trump, who last month unilaterally launched talks with the Kremlin, has demanded Kyiv make concessions to end the war, which began three years ago when Russia invaded the country and later sought to annex four of its regions. The talks in Saudi Arabia will be the most senior since a disastrous White House meeting last month when Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of ingratitude and demanding he make a deal with Russia. Washington has since suspended military aid, intelligence sharing and access to satellite imagery for Kyiv in a bid to force it to the negotiating table. A Ukrainian official said Tuesday's drone attack should encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept the proposals Kyiv plans to present in Saudi Arabia. 'The largest drone attack in history was carried out on Moscow and the Moscow region,' said Andriy Kovalenko, a National Security and Defence Council official. 'This is an additional signal to Putin that he should also be interested in a ceasefire in the air.'
