Fragments of fixed-wing drones caused damage to several residential buildings in the Moscow region.

On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that its country’s air defense systems shot down 337 Ukrainian drones overnight.

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Those drones included 91 shot down over the Moscow region, 126 over Kursk, 38 over Bryansk, and 25 over Belgorod. It was the largest drone attack Ukraine has launched against Russia in 2025.

“It is important to highlight that the Kyiv regime is striking social infrastructure and residential buildings,” denounced Dmitry Peskov, the Russian presidential spokesperson.

The Defense Ministry confirmed that 343 drones were shot down, nearly a hundred of them in the Moscow region. In fact, fragments of fixed-wing drones caused damage to several residential buildings in the city of 13 million inhabitants. Six drones were also headed toward the Kursk nuclear power plant.

Peskov emphasized that Russian air defense batteries had performed “very well,” preventing greater damage and casualties. Nevertheless, the Health Ministry reported that three people were killed in the Moscow region and 17 others were injured as a result of the enemy attack.

Meanwhile, the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy openly admitted that the motive behind the attack was to pressure the Kremlin into accepting a ceasefire proposal. “It is another signal to Putin that he should be interested in an aerial ceasefire,” stated Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security Council.

He did not hesitate to describe the drone attack as “the largest in history” against the Russian capital region and asserted that Putin’s response would show whether Moscow is truly interested in peace.

Last week, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected the possibility of a ceasefire, arguing that it would merely provide the Ukrainian army with a “breather.”

He also dismissed the deployment of European troops on Ukrainian soil, claiming that such a move would amount to an attempt to “save” Kyiv’s authorities. “What will the peacekeeping troops protect? The remnants of Kyiv’s Nazi regime,” the Russian diplomat said.

As a result of the recent drone attacks, some Russian politicians have urged President Vladimir Putin to retaliate against Ukraine using Oreshnik hypersonic missiles, as was done in late 2024.

“The decision rests with the supreme commander. But I believe it wouldn’t hurt—and better yet, it shouldn’t be just a single strike,” said General Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Defense Committee of the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament.

Regarding the timing of the attack coinciding with the first round of U.S.-Ukrainian negotiations this Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, the Kremlin warned that the massive assault could derail progress toward initiating peace talks.

“For now, there are no negotiations, so there is nothing to undermine. But can it cause significant damage to the current trend? Absolutely,” Peskov said.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE – Xinhua

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