Russia and Ukraine launch biggest drone attacks of conflict

MOSCOW: Russia and Ukraine both launched record drone attacks on each other overnight, as the Kremlin said it saw “positive signals” from US president-elect Donald Trump over his desire to strike a deal to end the conflict.

Trump’s election to the White House has the potential to upend the almost three-year conflict and has thrown into question Washington’s multi-billion dollar support for Kyiv, crucial to its defence.

The Republican said on the campaign trail that he could end the fighting within hours and has indicated he will talk directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin -- a major break from the approach struck by President Joe Biden.

Trump will not be inaugurated until January and for the moment on the battlefield and in the skies, the conflict shows no signs of subsiding.

Russia fired 145 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said -- more than in any single night-time attack of the conflict so far.

“Last night, Russia launched a record 145 Shaheds and other strike drones against Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media, urging Kyiv’s Western allies to do more to help Ukraine’s defence.

Russia also said it had downed 34 Ukrainian attack drones targeting Moscow on Sunday, the largest attempted attack on the capital since the start of the offensive in 2022.

While having publicly claimed to be backing Kamala Harris in the US election, the Kremlin is widely believed to have actually wanted to see Trump return to the White House, welcoming his scepticism over American aid to Ukraine and his chaotic leadership style.

“The signals are positive. Trump during his election campaign talked about how he perceives everything through deals, that he can make a deal that can lead to peace,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with state media published Sunday.

“At least he’s talking about peace, and not about confrontation. He isn’t talking about his wish to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia -- that distinguishes him from the current administration,” Peskov added.

But he warned about Trump’s unpredictability, and said time would tell whether his victory could bring about an end to the Ukraine conflict.

“What will happen next, it’s hard to say,” Peskov said, adding that Trump was “less predictable” than Harris and Biden.

“It’s also less predictable to what extent he will stick to the statements that he made on the campaign trail,” Peskov added.

Trump has not said how he intends to strike a peace deal or what terms he is proposing.

Russia’s president Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraw from swathes of its eastern and southern territory as a precondition to peace talks.

Following Trump’s election, Zelensky warned there should be “no concessions” to Putin, saying ceding land or giving in to any of his other hardline demands would only embolden the Kremlin and lead to more aggression.

Zelensky has also previously warned that without US aid Kyiv would lose the conflict.

Moscow’s troops made their largest territorial gains in October since March 2022, according to AFP analysis of data from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Moscow’s defence ministry claimed Sunday to have captured another village in Ukraine’s east.

Kyiv’s attempted drone strike on Moscow was its largest attack on the Russian capital of the conflict, with Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov calling it “massive”.

It forced the temporary closure of three airports, wounded a 52-year-old woman and set two homes on fire in the village of Stanovoye in the Moscow region, officials said.

While the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is regularly targeted by massive Russian drone and missile strikes, attacks on Moscow are much less frequent.

The defence ministry said Russia’s air defence had downed a total of 70 Ukrainian drones between 0400 GMT and 0700 GMT over six regions.

It said 34 were downed over the Moscow region and the rest over Bryansk, Orlov, Kaluga, Tula and Kursk.

In the Moscow region, local officials said the drones were downed in the Ramenskoye, Kolomna and Domodedovo districts.

In the previous largest drone attack on or near Moscow in September, a woman was killed in Ramenskoye -- the first time someone has been killed in a Ukrainian attack near the capital.

In May 2023, two drones were destroyed near the Kremlin and in the same year there were several drone attacks on the Moscow City business district.