Ukraine this weekend launched one of its largest waves of drone attacks on Moscow since the start of the war, with city authorities saying that air defense systems destroyed at least 250 drones bound for the capital.
The attacks, which began on Saturday afternoon, have continued into Monday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a message posted on Telegram.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that an additional 53 Ukrainian drones on their way toward Moscow were downed between Sunday night and Monday morning.
No one was reported injured or killed in the oncoming wave of drones, though eyewitnesses said they heard explosions in the suburbs surrounding Moscow.
The attacks led to disruptions at the city’s main airports.
Russians in Moscow reported problems accessing Telegram, saying they could only open the messaging app with censorship-bypassing tools known as VPNs, though it was not immediately clear whether the apparent restrictions were connected to security measures introduced in response to the drone attack.
While regions across Russia regularly face large-scale Ukrainian drone strikes, especially those in the south of the country and near the border with Ukraine, attacks on Moscow and the surrounding area are much rarer.
The largest Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow took place in March 2025, when three people were killed in the suburb of Domodedovo.
Ukraine’s latest air assault on Moscow comes as peace negotiations have come to a standstill due to the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
Officials from Ukraine, Russia and the United States were initially expected to hold another round of talks this month, but the escalation of hostilities in Iran has put those plans on hold.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that “American negotiators have other priorities right now” and that no decisions have been made about where and when the next meeting will take place.
However, Peskov said he did not believe U.S. President Donald Trump had lost interest in brokering an end to the war in Ukraine.
“[Trump] is adamantly insisting that Zelensky sign a deal. These statements would suggest that the Ukrainian side is the main obstacle slowing down the peace process,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists this weekend that he hoped the Trump administration would “not turn its back on the question of the war in Ukraine” because of the conflict with Iran.
