Russian air defences halt fresh drone attack on Moscow

Russian air defences intercepted multiple drones targeting Moscow and surrounding regions on Monday, just a day after a Ukrainian strike on a power station left thousands without heating outside the capital.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that eight drones were shot down en route to the city, with emergency services deployed to the sites.

This followed an earlier statement from the Russian Defence Ministry, which claimed ten Ukrainian drones had been downed across three regions – Moscow, Kaluga, and Bryansk, which borders Ukraine.

The Monday attacks occurred in the wake of a Ukrainian drone strike on Sunday against the Shatura Power Station, located approximately 120 km (75 miles) east of Moscow.

This assault resulted in heating being cut off for thousands of residents in the town of some 33,000 people, where temperatures were near freezing.

Authorities were forced to activate backup power and deploy mobile heating systems to mitigate the impact.

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Such incidents reflect a pattern of escalating attacks on critical infrastructure. Ukraine has endured repeated power and heat outages due to Russian assaults since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Conversely, Ukrainian forces have also targeted power and heating facilities in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine and within Russia's own border regions.

But Kyiv has thus far not inflicted major damage on electricity and heat stations serving Moscow and the surrounding region, which has a population of more than 22 million.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has said that “big progress” is being made in peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

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“Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine?” he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Monday.

“Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good just may be happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

It comes as European leaders discuss a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine after the White House made major “revisions and clarifications” to its 28-point peace plan.