At least three people have been killed in a Russian drone attack near Ukraine’s capital.
The interior ministry said on Friday that drone debris killed two men and a woman in the overnight attack on the central Kyiv region, which damaged a residential apartment building, eight houses, commercial buildings and several cars.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s military launched a barrage of drones into Russia, claiming to have hit oil facilities in Ryazan and a microelectronics production plant in Bryansk.
Russian authorities had earlier said air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 121 drones launched by Ukraine overnight.
The drones were downed over 13 Russian regions, including Moscow, Kursk, Bryansk, Belgorod and the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula, according to the defence ministry.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drones had been intercepted at several locations around the capital.
Russian news agencies quoted the federal aviation agency as saying two Moscow airports – Vnukovo and Domodedovo – were handling flights after suspending operations. Six flights were redirected to other airports.
The governors of the Ryazan and Tula regions, both located south of Moscow, also reported attacks.
US piles on pressure
Moscow and Kyiv are vying for advantage ahead of possible negotiations in the early days of US President Donald Trump‘s administration.
Before his inauguration, Trump promised to end the Ukraine war immediately upon taking office, raising expectations he would leverage aid to force Kyiv to make concessions to Russia, which invaded in February 2022.
But this week he stepped up pressure on Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to make a deal, threatening tougher economic measures if Moscow does not agree to end the nearly three-year-old war.
During an interview on Thursday, Trump said: “If they don’t settle this war soon, like almost immediately, I’m going to put massive tariffs on Russia, and massive taxes, and also big sanctions.”
The Kremlin said on Friday that it wanted to resume nuclear disarmament talks with Trump’s administration “as soon as possible”. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was ready to hold a phone call with Trump and was waiting for word from Washington.
