Ukraine has launched its largest drone attack yet against Moscow on the same day peace talks are due to start with delegates in Saudi Arabia, Russian officials have said.

Exploding drones targeted high-rise residential buildings in the Russian capital, days after Ukraine’s vital infrastructure was hit in an onslaught from Vladimir Putin’s troops.

Russian air defences claimed to have intercepted and destroyed 337 of the Ukrainian drones over ten regions at night, including 91 around Moscow, and 126 drones over the Kursk region, which is partially under Ukrainian control –

All four main Moscow airports – Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukova and Zhukovsky – were disrupted by the drone onslaught, delaying flights and cancelling others.

Moscow’s Putin-loyalist mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed over 70 drones targeted the Russian capital and were shot down as they were flying toward it.

Russia also hit Ukraine with overnight strikes on Kyiv and Odesa, where an oil depot and residential building were attacked.

Russian officials described a ‘mass attack’, the first major strike on the capital and surrounding region since November. Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate their homes as the drones rained down.

A key focus of the Ukrainian strikes was the Kursk region, where thousands of Kyiv’s troops risk being surrounded by Russian forces backed by North Korean fighters.

All eyes will be on Saudi Arabia this week as discussions kick off between the White House and Ukrainian delegations in the country as part of an intensive week of diplomacy to find a deal to end the war.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told US President Donald Trump he wanted the talks to have a ‘positive outcome’ that would see military aid and intelligence-sharing resume when the pair spoke on Monday.

The US leader paused the supply of weapons and crucial information for Kyiv’s war effort following his public spat with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Meanwhile, military chiefs from potential members of the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ will meet in Paris, with French officials indicating around 30 countries could take part.

Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin will attend for the UK before Defence Secretary John Healey meets opposite numbers from France, Germany, Italy and Poland in the French capital on Wednesday.

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