Moscow’s four main airports suspended flights in the early hours of Monday after a wave of Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian capital. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences downed 59 unmanned aircraft, later updating the figure to 80, while Russia’s defence ministry reported 301 drones intercepted nationwide, including over annexed Crimea. The temporary closures, lifted by mid-morning, came days after a major strike on Moscow’s sole oil refinery—one of the largest air attacks on the city since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

From Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov stated that Russia is not waiting for the implementation of any agreements reached at recent talks in Anchorage but for “victory” and the fulfilment of its own objectives, adding that one of the signatory parties was “not entirely capable” of complying. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in remarks carried by Arabic-language outlets, said the strikes successfully hit military logistics facilities, oil infrastructure, and four S-400 air-defence radars plus two Pantsir systems on both sides of the Kerch bridge. Western military analysts assess that Kyiv’s intensified long-range drone campaign aims to degrade Russian fuel supplies and air-defence coverage ahead of potential ground operations.

The reciprocal strikes are producing tangible disruptions beyond the immediate battlefields. In Crimea, the Russian-installed governor suspended fuel sales to the public and businesses, restricting supplies to government agencies responsible for essential services and security, citing drone attacks on supply routes and energy facilities. A Ukrainian strike on Kerch killed four people, according to Moscow-appointed authorities. On the Ukrainian side, Russian attacks killed at least five civilians, including three members of a family in the Sumy region and an Egyptian crew member aboard a Turkish-operated, Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel that Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said was set ablaze by a Russian drone, forcing eight sailors to evacuate on a life raft. The strike on civilian shipping highlights the widening maritime dimension of the conflict.

The escalation unfolds against a backdrop of diplomatic deadlock. The Kremlin’s dismissal of the Anchorage process and its insistence on military victory signal no near-term ceasefire. Viewed from Kyiv, the targeting of refineries and oil depots is a means to cut Moscow’s war revenue, while Russian officials have warned of mass-scale retaliation. Moscow has accused the United Nations of bias, and European parliamentarians from Germany and France are reportedly preparing to push for tighter inspections and legal measures against Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to export oil in circumvention of sanctions. No new negotiations have been announced, and the trajectory points to further attrition on both sides.