Ukraine Targets Moscow With Large-Scale Drone Attack

The assault, which the mayor called the largest on Russia’s capital since the war began, was a reminder of Ukraine’s power to strike as its president proposes an air truce.

Russian officials said Ukraine attacked Moscow before dawn on Tuesday with its largest long-range drone bombardment of the war, as both sides stepped up attacks ahead of talks intended to find a way to end three years of fighting.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have shot down at least 91 drones in the region around Moscow and more than 240 drones directed at other targets across the country.

The Ukrainian military said it had targeted Moscow’s oil refinery, which provides more than a third of the fuel consumed in the capital region, along with an oil production station in the Orel region. Neither claim could be independently verified.

Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, called the attack was the largest against the city since the start of the war. At least three people were killed and 18 others were injured in the broader Moscow region, the Russian authorities said, and four international airports temporarily suspended operations. Railway tracks near the Domodedovo airport south of Moscow were also damaged.

President Vladimir V. Putin was briefed on the attack, according to Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman. Mr. Peskov said Russian air defenses were doing “a great job” but told reporters that the authorities “must remain on guard” because attacks would likely continue.

The predawn strikes — just hours before high-level delegations from Kyiv and the United States were scheduled to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible path toward ending the war — appeared intended to serve as a reminder that despite suffering attacks and enduring huge losses, Ukraine can still hit back at Russia.