More than 390 unmanned aerial vehicles were launched overnight Monday toward the Moscow area. The attack came ahead of a planned meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
The mayor said most of the drones were neutralized by air defense systems far from the city, with 81 drones shot down on their direct path to Moscow. Regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported that residential buildings in the city of Chekhov and the village of Vaulovo were damaged in the attack.
The strike follows escalating tensions in the region. Last week, Moscow experienced the largest Ukrainian drone attack since the war began, when nearly 200 unmanned aircraft hit various targets across the Russian capital. Thick columns of smoke rose into the sky, and 17 people were injured in the Moscow area from the massive strike. The attack marked a significant escalation in bringing the fighting deep into Russian territory.