The attack killed one person and wounded multiple others – and came as a Ukrainian delegation was set to meet with America’s top diplomat in Saudi Arabia about ending the three-year war with Russia
337 Ukrainian drones were launched over 10 Russian regions in what appears to be the biggest Ukrainian drone attack on Russia in three years, the Russian military said.
Air defenses shot down the drones during the “massive” overnight attack on Tuesday, March 11, the city’s mayor said, with one person killed and multiple others wounded. It came as a Ukrainian delegation was set to meet with America’s top diplomat in Saudi Arabia for crucial peace talks on ending the three-year war with Russia.
The most drones (126) were shot down over the Kursk region across the border from Ukraine, parts of which Kyiv’s forces control, while 91 were intercepted over the Moscow region, according to a statement by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
Other regions hit in the onslaught included Belgorod, Bryansk and Voronezh on the border with Ukraine and those deeper inside Russia, such as Kaluga, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol and Ryazan. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 70 drones targeted the Russian capital and were shot down as they were flying toward it.
The governor of the Moscow region surrounding the capital, Andrei Vorobyov, said that one person was killed and nine more wounded as a result of the attack, which also damaged seven apartments in a residential building in the region. A number of cars were also set ablaze during the attack, with two other residential buildings in the same region left damaged, Russian state news agencies RIA Novosti and Tass reported.
One more person was wounded on a highway in the Lipetsk region, Gov. Igor Artamonov said. Sobyanin said the roof of a building in Moscow also sustained damage, which he described as “insignificant.”
Footage of the building, published by RIA Novosti, showed a charred spot on the facade of a multi-story residential building near the roof, with parts of the building’s lining stripped off.
The incident has sparked travel chaos across the country, with flights temporarily restricted in and out of six airports. Affected sites include Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky just outside Moscow – as well as airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions. According to local officials, train traffic through the Domodedovo railway station in the Moscow region has also briefly come to a halt.
Local authorities reported downing drones in the Tula and Vladimir regions adjacent to the Moscow region, although it wasn’t immediately clear why those regions weren’t mentioned in the Defense Ministry’s statement.
A Ukrainian delegation was set to meet with America’s top diplomat in Saudi Arabia and propose a ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes, as well as the release of prisoners.
