Ukraine launches more than 430 drones towards Moscow, says Sobyanin

Overnight drone attack on Moscow

Ukraine launched more than 430 drones towards Moscow during the early hours, with most of them taken out in flight and almost 40 downed on the outskirts of the city, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said today.

"Overnight, up to 06:00 (04:00 in mainland Portugal), more than 430 drones were launched towards the Moscow region. Most were neutralised by air defences during their route, with 36 enemy drones shot down near Moscow", Sobyanin wrote on the Telegram messaging platform.

After that update, the Moscow mayor reported that a further three drones had been brought down, taking the total to 39.

Airports and Russian air-defence figures

Moscow’s four international airports were forced to temporarily suspend operations because of the aerial threat.

According to Russia’s Ministry of Defence, air defences "intercepted and neutralised" a total of 452 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones.

Zelensky’s remarks and the NATO summit in Ankara

A day earlier, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war with Russia will be decided through "a battle in the sky", referring to drone attacks, and stressing that this approach is intended to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"When it’s not a hundred but a thousand drones flying towards Moscow, [Putin] will understand. When he starts to feel it personally, when he begins to see it with his own eyes (...), his advisers will urge him to take refuge somewhere beyond the Urals. The further Putin moves away from Moscow, the closer the end of the war will be", Zelensky warned, hours after Russia carried out a large-scale missile and drone attack against Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president is expected to attend the NATO summit that opens today in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, where three topics are set for discussion: defence investment, ramping up industrial production, and support for Ukraine.

The meeting comes amid tension between Europe and the United States, linked to the pull-back by the US administration of President Donald Trump from the Atlantic Alliance, arguing that Europe’s allies should take on a greater role in defending the "Old Continent".

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday that Alliance members are expected to confirm a commitment of around €140 billion in military support for Kyiv over two years, drawing largely on funding that had already been approved.