Ahead of Saudi talks, Ukrainian drones strike Moscow; 60 shot down

New Delhi: Moscow faced a significant drone assault early Tuesday morning, with Russian authorities reporting that air defense systems downed at least 60 Ukrainian drones targeting the capital. 

The attack, described by officials as one of the largest of its kind in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, led to temporary airport closures and reports of damage to residential areas.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that Russian air defenses intercepted at least 60 drones approaching the city, with operations concentrated over the Moscow region. 

"The attack was repelled successfully," Sobyanin said, adding that no injuries or significant damages were reported on the ground in his initial updates. 

However, fires in several residential areas were reported, with videos showing flames and smoke rising from multiple locations around Moscow.

Two major airports, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, suspended flight operations temporarily as a safety measure, with restrictions lifted later in the morning. The governor of the nearby Ryazan region reported that air defenses also repelled a drone attack there, with no damage or injuries noted.

Damage was reported in the Ramenskoye area near Moscow, where one drone struck an apartment building, causing a fire and shattering windows on upper floors. 

Fragments from the downed UAV were said to have scattered 10-15 meters from the impact site. Additional explosions were reported in Podolsk, Domodedovo, and Kapotnya, home to an oil refinery.

The attack, the biggest on Moscow in months, came on the day of U.S.-Ukraine negotiations in Saudi Arabia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived Monday in Saudi Arabia for a visit with its powerful crown prince ahead of his team's meeting with America's top diplomat.

While Zelenskyy won't be there, his team will try to repair the damage done when his Feb 28 visit to Washington descended into an Oval Office argument with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

At stake is the military aid and intelligence previously offered by the United States that had helped Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Zelenskyy landed a few hours apart in Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea where the Ukraine-US summit will take place Tuesday.

Zelenskyy was due to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after sunset, following the end of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

It didn't appear that Rubio and Zelenskyy would meet in person in Jeddah, though the secretary of state also was due to meet Prince Mohammed.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane, Rubio said he and national security adviser Mike Waltz would take stock of Ukraine's responses.

If Ukraine and the US reach an understanding acceptable to Trump, that could accelerate his administration's push to peace talks.

“What we want to know is, are they interested entering some sort of peace conversation and general outlines of the kinds of things they could consider, recognising that it has been a costly and bloody war for the Ukrainians. They have suffered greatly and their people have suffered greatly,” Rubio said. “And it's hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions, but that's the only way this is going to end and prevent more suffering.”

He added: “I'm not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do. I think we want to listen to see how far they're willing to go and then compare that to what the Russians want and see how far apart we truly are.”

Zelenskyy has said a team including his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov will take part in the talks Tuesday. Rubio will lead the US team.

The rest of Europe remains sceptical as it has been sidelined.

The European Union last week agreed to boost the continent's defences and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security in response to the Trump administration's shift in stance on Ukraine.

White House special envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Monday that the pause of US intelligence-sharing with Ukraine has not limited defence intelligence-sharing.

“We never shut off intelligence for... anything defensive that the Ukrainians need,” Witkoff said.

A pause on sharing US intelligence that can be used for offensive purposes by Ukrainian forces remains in effect, according to a US official familiar with the matter who was not authorised to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The official suggested that progress could be made toward reinstating intelligence-sharing with Ukraine during the Saudi talks.