Russian authorities reported that Ukraine launched its most extensive long-range drone assault on Moscow before dawn on Tuesday, marking an escalation in hostilities as both nations intensified their attacks ahead of upcoming negotiations aimed at ending three years of conflict.

Ukraine Targets Moscow With Large-Scale Drone Attack

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, at least 91 drones were intercepted near Moscow, while over 240 others targeted various locations across the country.

Ukraine’s military stated that its strikes were aimed at Moscow’s oil refinery—responsible for supplying over a third of the capital region’s fuel—along with an oil production facility in the Orel region. However, neither side’s claims could be independently confirmed.

Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, described the assault as the most significant attack on the city since the war began. Russian officials reported that at least three people lost their lives and 18 others were wounded in the wider Moscow region. Additionally, four international airports temporarily suspended operations, and railway tracks near Domodedovo Airport, south of Moscow, sustained damage.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov stated that President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the attack. While praising Russian air defenses for their effectiveness, Peskov warned that authorities must remain vigilant, as further strikes were likely.

The attacks, occurring just hours before senior delegations from Kyiv and the United States were set to convene in Saudi Arabia to explore pathways to peace, appeared to be a demonstration of Ukraine’s continued ability to strike back despite facing significant losses.

Ukraine has put forward a proposal for an immediate aerial ceasefire, offering to halt long-range attacks on Russian territory if Moscow reciprocates. Supported by European nations such as France, the initiative is seen as a confidence-building measure leading to broader peace negotiations. The conflict has already resulted in over a million casualties on both sides.

Ukrainian officials are expected to revisit this proposal in discussions with U.S. representatives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Besides advocating for an aerial truce, Kyiv is also pushing for a halt to hostilities in the Black Sea to assess Russia’s willingness to take steps toward de-escalation.

When asked whether Moscow would consider the plan, Peskov declined to provide a definitive response, stating that discussions were ongoing and that Russia awaited updates from the U.S. regarding the talks with Ukraine.

Kyiv maintains that the only way to compel Russia to agree to a lasting peace is by increasing military pressure and raising the costs of war for the Kremlin. In recent months, Ukraine has intensified attacks on critical Russian infrastructure, targeting oil and gas facilities that fuel Moscow’s war efforts.

According to Andriy Kovalenko, a senior Ukrainian official specializing in countering Russian disinformation, the overnight assault on Moscow was meant to reinforce this message.

“This serves as another signal to Putin that he, too, should be interested in an aerial ceasefire,” Kovalenko stated. “Beyond oil refineries, mass drone incursions over Moscow are also possible.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced Ukraine’s plan to manufacture 30,000 long-range drones and 3,000 long-range missiles this year, as the country strengthens its domestic weapons production amid ongoing delays in U.S. military aid.

Meanwhile, Russia has continued its relentless bombardment of Ukrainian military and civilian targets. In recent weeks, Russian forces have launched more than 100 drones almost nightly, striking various locations across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv.

The latest wave of attacks, often combining ballistic and cruise missiles to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses, persisted from Monday night into Tuesday. Explosions were heard across Kyiv around midnight as air defense units scrambled to respond. On Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia had deployed 126 drones and a ballistic missile overnight, with most of the drones and the missile being intercepted.

In Kharkiv, a Russian drone strike on a warehouse killed at least one person, while 17 others were wounded in separate attacks across Ukraine, according to local authorities. In the southern port city of Odesa, multiple fires were reported following drone strikes.

Since President Donald Trump’s phone conversation with Vladimir Putin on February 12—the first official U.S.-Russia head-of-state contact in years—more than 100 civilians have been killed in Russian attacks, according to Ukrainian government data compiled by The New York Times.

The escalating strikes have coincided with shifting dynamics on the battlefield. Russian forces recently recaptured a large portion of territory in the Kursk region that had been under Ukrainian control. On Tuesday, Russia’s defense ministry announced that its troops had reclaimed more than 35 square miles in the area, though this claim could not be independently verified.

Kyiv had hoped to use its hold on the region as leverage in negotiations, but the latest developments may have altered that strategy, as the cost of defending the land could now outweigh its diplomatic value.

Overnight, Russia’s defense ministry reported that Ukrainian forces had launched more than 125 drones targeting the Kursk region. This came after Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrsky, announced late Monday that Kyiv was sending reinforcements to the area but dismissed Russian assertions that Ukrainian troops stationed there were at risk of being surrounded.

“A decision was made to strengthen our forces with additional resources, including electronic warfare and drone units,” Syrsky stated.

Meanwhile, on the eastern front, there are signs that Russia’s offensive has lost momentum. Ukrainian troops and military analysts monitoring battlefield developments through combat footage report that Russian forces have not advanced in over a week, while Ukraine has conducted limited counterattacks to reclaim small areas of lost ground.