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Drones Reach Moscow
Ukraine expanded long-range drone attacks across Russia, including Moscow, with ABC News citing Russian Defense Ministry claims that May saw the shooting down of 9,418 Ukrainian drones, the highest monthly total ever reported by the ministry.
“Ukraine scales up drone attacks in Moscow, across Russia to record highs, data shows The size and regularity of Ukraine's drone attacks are steadily increasing”
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported in regular Telegram posts that at least 329 Ukrainian drones were shot down heading toward the Russian capital in May, and ABC News analysis said that was the second highest monthly total of the war at an average rate of more than 12 drones per day.
In parallel, ABC News said the Russian Defense Ministry data and Moscow’s real-time Telegram reporting could not be independently verified, and it noted that Russian officials rarely acknowledge successful Ukrainian drone strikes, more often claiming casualties and damage come from falling debris after interceptions.
On the ground in Russia, Al Jazeera reported that a drone hit a bus in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region of Ukraine, killing at least eight people and injuring 10 others, with Denis Pushilin saying the bus was travelling between Moscow and Simferopol in Crimea.
Al Jazeera also described how Zelensky said “important facilities on Russian territory were hit last night,” naming the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Kronstadt base, while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s response would be “systemic” in nature.
Putin Promises Retaliation
As Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg ahead of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, BBC reported that local authorities said air defences shot down 59 drones overnight and that three different districts of St Petersburg had been hit, with no one killed.
BBC quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying, “Our responses will be systemic in nature,” and it said mobile internet was disrupted and Pulkovo Airport was temporarily closed while nearby Latvia and Estonia issued air raid alerts.
AP reported that President Vladimir Putin told the Associated Press that “To our regret, some of them break through,” and he said Russia has an air defense system that “we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.”
AP also said Putin acknowledged the damage from Ukrainian drone attacks and described the forum as a “showcase economic forum” in his hometown of St. Petersburg, while Zelensky proposed face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Putin.
In the same escalation cycle, Al Jazeera said Zelensky hailed the overnight strikes on Saint Petersburg as a “fair” response to Russian attacks and threatened to “scale up the intensity of our responses,” while NATO chief Mark Rutte arrived in Kyiv for an unannounced trip and said Russia was increasingly desperate.
Talks, Terms, and Risks
Zelensky’s push for talks came as he proposed a direct one-on-one meeting with Putin in an open letter, with Boursorama saying Zelensky wrote, “Ukraine proposes to end this war via direct contact between you and us. I propose a meeting,” and it reported he suggested “Switzerland, Turkey and the countries of the Arab world.”
“At least eight people have been killed and 10 others injured after a drone hit a bus in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region of Ukraine, as both sides escalate attacks”
Boursorama also said Zelensky added that Ukraine was “ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations,” while the Kremlin said Putin had not yet seen the letter and that Zelensky could come “at any moment” to meet him “in Moscow,” which Zelensky ruled out.
In AP’s account of the diplomatic track, Putin said Russia was open for a compromise in line with understandings reached at his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, and he said Ukraine needs to accept them to make a deal to end the conflict.
ABC News described how Zelensky wrote on Telegram that “The Moscow region has Russia's densest concentration of air defenses. But we are getting through,” and it said Ukraine’s drone campaign was aimed at taking the fight back into Russia.
France 24 reported Zelensky lamented that “Today we are not in focus,” saying “Iran is the number one issue for the United States of America, and then comes the issue of Ukraine,” while it also quoted Rubio telling the House Foreign Affairs Committee that “We think the war in Ukraine, devastating war, has no military solution. It can only be solved through a diplomatic route.”
