Moscow hit by largest drone attack in three years, officials claim
Russia and Ukraine traded fire ahead of crunch talks on ending Moscow's war between Ukrainian and US officials in Saudi Arabia.
At least three people have been killed — two in Moscow and one in the Donetsk region — and multiple injured as Russia and Ukraine traded fire ahead of talks on ending the war in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine launched a "massive" drone attack on Moscow overnight, according to local officials.
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said two people — including a 50-year-old man — were killed near the Russian capital in the attack.
He said the casualties were in the towns of Vidnoye and Domodedovo, located just outside the capital. Seven apartments were also damaged.
In a post on social media, Vorobyov posted pictures allegedly showing one of the damaged apartments alongside burnt vehicles in a car park. He added that over a dozen — including children — had to be evacuated.
Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 70 drones were shot down as they flew towards the Russian capital.
The roof of a building in Moscow also sustained damage in what Sobyanin said was the largest Ukrainian drone attack on the city in the three years of war between Russia and Ukraine.
In total, the Russian military said air defences shot down at least 91 drones over the Moscow region. At least 337 Ukrainian drones were shot down over 10 Russian regions in total, the majority over Kursk.
Flights have been restricted in all four of Moscow's airports, and two other airports in regions east of Moscow were closed. Traffic was halted through the Domodedovo railway station.
The governors of Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, and Belgorod on the border in Ukraine also said their regions came under attack, with Belgorod's regional governor saying several settlements lost power.
Euronews could not independently verify these claims.
US to ask Kyiv for concessions?
Ukraine also came under Russian attack overnight, with authorities saying one person was killed and four wounded in Russian attacks on the frontline towns of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka.
A 40-year-old cyclist was also injured in the city of Kherson after being targeted by a Russian drone in the morning, whilst one was injured and five residential homes damaged after the northern Sumy region was targeted by Russian drones.
Several buildings caught fire, including a fuel tank, a residential house and a warehouse of children's toys, according to local authorities in Odesa.
Overnight, Ukraine's air force posted on Telegram that it shot down an Iskander-M ballistic missile and at least 79 drones in various regions across Ukraine, including Kyiv.
The attacks come as representatives from the US and Ukraine meet in Saudi Arabia for crunch talks focused on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Two senior Ukrainian officials told AP on Monday that the Ukrainian delegation would propose a ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes, as well as the release of Ukrainian prisoners held in Russia.
US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who will be present at the talks, said ahead of discussions that the US would be taking stock of Ukraine's proposals.
“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,” Rubio told reporters ahead of his arrival.
"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,” Rubio said, implying that Kyiv would have to consider making concessions on its peace plan, which involves Russian troops withdrawing from all of its territory.
The US has cut off military support to Ukraine as well as paused the flow of intelligence, although on Monday White House special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed to Fox News that the pause did not impact information necessary for Ukraine's defence.
“We never shut off intelligence for ... anything defensive that the Ukrainians need,” Witkoff said.
The Ukrainian delegation will be represented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's head of office, Andriy Yermak, the country's national security advisers and several defence and foreign ministers.
Rubio will head the US delegation alongside Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
Moscow targeted by 'massive' Ukrainian drone attack
Moscow (AFP) – Ukraine targeted Moscow in a "massive" overnight drone attack, authorities said Tuesday, with Russia's defense ministry claiming it shot down 337 UAVs across the country.
Issued on: 11/03/2025 - FRANCE24
"The Defense Ministry's air defense continues to repel a massive attack by enemy drones on Moscow," mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram early Tuesday.
Russia's military shot down 91 drones around the capital, the defense ministry said in a statement, adding it downed another 126 over the Kursk region bordering Ukraine.
At least one person was killed and three more wounded in the southern suburbs of Moscow, according to the region's governor, Andrei Vorobyov.
He added that drone debris damaged at least seven units in a residential building in another suburb in the southeast.
The attack on the Russian capital, hundreds of kilometres from the Ukraine border, comes ahead of an expected meeting Tuesday between top US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine is set to present the United States with a plan for a partial ceasefire with Russia, hoping to restore support from its key benefactor, which under President Donald Trump has demanded concessions to end the three-year war.
The talks in Saudi Arabia will be the most senior since a disastrous White House meeting last month, when Trump berated Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky for purported ingratitude.
Since Trump's dressing down of Zelensky, Washington has suspended military aid to Ukraine as well as intelligence sharing and access to satellite imagery in a bid to force it to the negotiating table.
© 2025 AFP
By AFP
PublishedMarch 11, 2025
For many Russians, Moscow's three-year campaign on Ukraine has felt distant. - Copyright AFP Andrey BORODULIN
As a drone smashed into the side of her apartment block early on Tuesday, Russia’s full-scale offensive on Ukraine literally came home to Svetlana in a suburb southeast of Moscow.
Like for most Russians, Moscow’s three-year military campaign had until then felt distant — mostly constrained to television screens.
Despite militaristic propaganda and a mass recruitment of soldiers, authorities have tried to keep society at arm’s length from the conflict’s death and destruction — especially in and around the capital.
“You understand that it is war, but you don’t realise it properly,” Svetlana, wearing a winter coat with a fur collar, said. “But now, yes, it has come.”
In her town of Ramenskoye, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of central Moscow, police had cordoned off an area where a drone hit.
The attack shattered the sense of comfort that Svetlana — a supporter of the Kremlin’s offensive — had.
“Yes, we were weaving camouflage nets, collecting humanitarian aid, accompanying fighters there, but we still didn’t realise it. Now it has come,” Svetlana said.
“I’m scared for the children,” said Andrei, an electrician who lives on the 12th floor of a building that was hit.
He was sweeping up broken glass from his car, which was hit by falling shrapnel after the drone crashed into the 18th-22nd floors.
“My six-year-old daughter was sleeping with me, she woke up crying from the noise,” he told AFP.
– ‘Fear in their eyes’ –
Kyiv said it wants the attack — which involved more than 300 drones — to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to an aerial ceasefire.
The Kremlin has previously ruled that out.
Ukraine says the strikes are just a taste of what Russia has subjected its citizens to over the last three years, with Moscow having fired near daily bomb, missile and drone attacks across the country.
“There is not even any thought that tonight will be peaceful. It’s scary,” said Olga, a 21-year old who works in IT and lives in the adjacent building to one hit.
She ran out to the street after being woken at 5 am (0200 GMT) by the rumbling.
“People just have fear in their eyes,” she told AFP, the ground around her covered with shrapnel.
Unlike in Ukraine — where air alerts ring out practically every night in almost every city — there was no such warning of an incoming attack in the Russian capital or its suburbs.
“We don’t understand what to do in such situations,” said Olga.
– ‘I don’t believe in peace’ –
“The news says that more and more drones are being shot down. It’s scary to even go to sleep after such a thing,” she added. “It could have been us.”
The idea of peace — previously seen as within reach amid US President Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Moscow — now felt far away in Ramenskoye.
“In my opinion, this attack won’t be the last,” said retiree Sergei, criticising Ukraine’s “bloodthirsty” European backers who were supplying it with arms.
For 75-year-old Yulia, who lives next to the building that was hit, there was just frustration.
“My heart is bad. I don’t believe there will be peace,” she told AFP.
“Why can’t they agree? Why not? What are they thinking about?,” she said, through tears. “It’s terrible.”
afptv-bur/jm
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