At least three people are dead after Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack that struck the Moscow region overnight, causing damage to residential buildings and infrastructure just hours before diplomats from Washington and Kyiv began a high-level meeting in Saudi Arabia seeking find a path to ending the war.
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The attacks early on March 11 were Ukraine's biggest-ever drone assault on the capital region, Russian Health Ministry official Aleksei Kuznetsov saying 20 people, including three children, were injured.
Two workers were killed at a meat warehouse, while Yevgenia Khrustalyova, mayor of Domodedovo, just south of Moscow, said on Telegram that a third person injured in the attack died later in hospital.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said a total of 337 drones launched by Ukraine -- 91 of which targeted Moscow -- were shot down across the country. It's not known how drones in total were involved in the attack, the first large-scale attack on Russian territory in recent weeks.
The massive strike came as senior US and Ukrainian officials were preparing to meet in Saudi Arabia for talks over how to end the war in Ukraine. In recent days, Russia has stepped up its own attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian targets as diplomacy around the war has intensified.
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Witness Captures Drone Attacks On Moscow
Unverified images and videos posted from Moscow and the surrounding area by residents showed drone strikes on residential buildings.
Ukraine has not claimed credit for the attack.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine Agrees To US-Brokered Cease-Fire Deal, Unlocking Military Aid And Intelligence SharingBut in an interview with Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, Maksym Yali, a lecturer at the National Aviation University of Ukraine, said the overnight strikes could be understood as a "clear signal" from Kyiv ahead of the talks in Saudi Arabia.
"As is known, the Ukrainian side has put forward its plan -- a ceasefire in the air and at sea. In this way, we have shown our capabilities in the air, so that Russia also has an incentive to agree to a ceasefire in that format [while showing] that Ukraine also has the potential to launch mass strikes with drones, including at the capital of the Russian Federation, which is of course very sensitive for the residents of Moscow," Yali said.
SEE ALSO: Analysis: Why Saudi Arabia Makes Sense For Ukraine Peace TalksRussia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that the strikes had come ahead of the visit of OSCE Secretary-General Feridun H. Sinirlioglu to Moscow. Zakharova said Sinirlioglu would be taken to a site in the capital where a drone had been shot down.
In Ramenskoye, more than 40 kilometers southeast of the Russian capital, a drone struck a high-rise building on Severnoye Highway, touching off a fire on the upper floors. Elsewhere in the town, a two-story house caught fire after a drone attack. Reports also indicate damaged high-rise buildings in Vidnoye, a suburb of the capital.
Ukrainian Telegram channels have also circulated unverified footage of explosions across the Moscow region.
Vorobyov said debris from downed drones also fell on an apartment building in Ramenskoye, damaging at least seven apartments.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported on his Telegram channel that air defense forces destroyed more than 70 Ukrainian drones heading for Moscow. He also confirmed that debris from a downed drone damaged the roof of a residential building on Domodedovskaya Street.
The attack also impacted air travel at Moscow's main airports. Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency reported that Sheremetevo, Zhukovsky, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo airports temporarily halted operations due to the drone strikes.
The Moscow Railway Authority also confirmed damage to railway infrastructure at Domodedovo Station at the airport. Meanwhile, reports from Ryazan indicate that the Dyagilevo military airfield was targeted.
SEE ALSO: US-Ukraine Talks In Saudi Arabia: 4 Things To Watch Ahead Of Crucial Peace NegotiationsRyazan Governor Pavel Malkov stated that air defense forces intercepted the attack swiftly and effectively, without reported casualties or damage to residential buildings and social infrastructure in area, which he said demonstrated the country's strong defense capabilities.
The situation remains tense as authorities assess the full extent of the damage and continue monitoring potential threats.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian air defense forces said on March 11 that they successfully intercepted a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile and 79 attack drones overnight.
According to the statement, 35 additional Russian drones lost radar contact, suggesting further disruptions. The interceptions covered multiple regions, including Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv, they said.
Ahead of the talks between Kyiv and Washington in Saudi Arabia, Moscow has been claiming major advances against Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region where Ukraine seized 1,300 square kilometers of Russian territory last year.
Ukraine's government characterized the surprise incursion as an attempt to gain a bargaining chip for future negotiations and draw Russian troops away from the front line in eastern Ukraine.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on 11 March that Russian forces had liberated 12 settlements and more than 100 square kilometers of territory in Moscow's latest offensive there -- a claim that could not immediately be verified.