At least one person has been killed and three injured in a “massive” overnight drone attack on Moscow and the capital region, local officials say.
Regional Governor Andrei Vorobyev says the casualties were in the towns of Vidnoye and Domodedovo, just outside the capital. Seven apartments in a residential building were damaged.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin says 73 drones heading towards the city were shot down. The roof of one building was damaged by drone wreckage.
One district train network is now suspended, and flight restrictions are in place at Moscow’s airports after the attack – one of the biggest since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The attack comes just hours ahead of a crunch meeting between representatives from the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia, focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In a post on social media, Governor Vorobyev published pictures purportedly showing one of the damaged apartments, and burnt vehicles in what looked like a car park in the Moscow region.
He said 12 people – including three children – had to be evacuated from their damaged flats after the overnight strike.
Flight restrictions were imposed in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports – major transport hubs used by millions of passengers every year.
Russia’s defence ministry later reported that overall 337 Ukrainian drones were either intercepted or destroyed overnight in the Moscow and nine other Russian regions.
Ukraine has not commented on the issue.
Overnight, Ukrainian officials reported Russian drone attacks on the capital Kyiv and several other regions.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.
