Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin unleashes mass drone attack on Kyiv after claiming he is open to peace

• Vladimir Putin is reportedly open to peace talks with Ukraine following a suggestion from Volodymyr Zelensky, though the Kremlin insists on achieving its objectives, including Ukraine’s withdrawal from annexed territories and renouncing NATO membership.
• Zelensky’s offer for new peace talks comes after Donald Trump set a 50-day deadline for a ceasefire or face sanctions, threatening severe tariffs on Russia’s trading partners and increased US military aid to Ukraine.
• Russia launched at least 57 Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukraine overnight, with Ukrainian forces shooting down 18; drone strikes injured two women in Zaporizhzhia and two civilians in Kharkiv.
• Ukraine conducted a drone strike across Russia, causing 140 flight cancellations and the closure of Moscow’s four major airports.
• Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces shot down 93 Ukrainian drones targeting Russian territory, including at least 15 aimed at Moscow.

Russia has launched 450 drones and missiles overnight, Ukraine’s air force has said.

This includes 426 Shahed UAVs and four Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea, the air force said.

It downed or jammed 224 drones and missiles, while another 203 drones disappeared from radars, most likely having been jammed by electronic warfare, the air force said.

Meanwhile, Russia says it downed 74 Ukrainian drones overnight. The Russian defence ministry said 15 of these were heading towards Moscow.

The Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) – a grouping of Western countries allied to Ukraine – is expected to seek further commitments later today, with Germany and the UK agreeing to procure more air defence missiles using €170m of funding from Berlin.

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said it was «right» that the government «continues to provide all possible support to Ukraine».

He said: «It is also important that we stand firm alongside the United States in reinforcing their 50-day deadline to ensure Putin is under maximum pressure to pursue peace.

«That means all of our allies playing their part, and following the PM [Keir Starmer’s] recent summit with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, we hope that this 50-day drive will include German confirmation that it intends to provide Taurus missiles to Ukraine.»

The defence secretary will call for a «50-day drive» to arm Ukraine when he chairs a meeting of Kyiv’s allies this morning.

John Healey is expected to argue that the West should again boost its military support for Ukraine in an effort to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

Donald Trump has already threatened to impose «very severe» tariffs on Russia if it does not agree a ceasefire by 2 September, 50 days on from the US president’s announcement that he would sell «top-of-the-line» weapons to Nato that could then be given to Ukraine.

Later in the day, Mr Healey will use a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) to back Mr Trump’s proposal and pledge that the UK will «play our full part in its success to bolster Ukraine’s immediate fight».

Calling for more support from Western allies, he is expected to say: «Alongside this, the US has started the clock on a 50-day deadline for Putin to agree to peace or face crippling economic sanctions.

«As members of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, we need to step up in turn with a ’50-day drive’ to arm Ukraine on the battlefield and force Putin to the negotiating table.»

The UK and Germany are chairing a meeting this morning to discuss president Donald Trump’s plans for Nato allies to provide Ukraine with weapons, a week after the US president said deliveries would arrive in Ukraine within days.

The virtual meeting will be lead by defence secretary John Healey and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius.

Mr Healey said US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and Nato leader Mark Rutte, as well as Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, will attend the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.

The talks come after Russia pounded Ukraine with some 300 drone strikes Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow continues to intensify its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate.

The skies above Ukraine now swarm with kamikaze, surveillance, bomber, and anti-drone UAVs.

These numerous, cheap, and deadly machines are considered by Kyiv to be a primary reason Ukraine can withstand advancing Russian forces this year and beyond, a view shared by a dozen Ukrainian commanders, officials, and arms manufacturers.

So pervasive are these remotely piloted unmanned aerial vehicles that Ukrainian soldiers refer to the roughly 10-kilometre corridor on either side of the contact line as the «kill zone,» where targets are swiftly spotted and neutralised by both sides.

In his latest post on social media, Volodymyr Zelensky shared an update from the Ukrainian military’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

He said Ukraine continues to target “Russian sabotage groups” in the Pokrovsk region.

He wrote: “Russia’s tactics remain the same — they are attempting to seize new positions using small groups. Ukrainian units are employing all necessary means to detect and neutralize such enemy activity.”

He also thanked forces in the border areas of the Sumy region and the effectiveness of Ukraine’s long-range strikes.

A tsunami warning has been lifted for Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula after two earthquakes struck in the sea nearby on Sunday.

The earthquake struck off the east coast of Kamchatka at a depth of 10 km, shortly after a previous quake, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) data.

Waves of up to 60 cm had been expected to reach several parts of the region, including the capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

But Russia’s state-run TASS news agency later reported that a tsunami warning for Kamchatka was also lifted, citing local emergency services.

Russia launched a fresh barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine in an overnight attack on Monday, killing at least one person and causing multiple fires in the capital Kyiv, city officials said.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said rescuers and medics were working on sites across four districts of the capital. A subway station in central Kyiv, commercial property, shops, houses and a kindergarten were damaged, city officials said.

In another tense and sleepless night for Kyiv residents, many rushed to take shelter in underground stations. Explosions were heard across the city as air defence units engaged in repelling the attack.

Oleh Synehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, reported multiple explosions in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, but gave no immediate details on the damage.

At least 140 flights have been cancelled and Moscow’s major airports were closed after Ukraine launched a drone strike on Russia.

The four major airports serving the capital were disrupted and more than 130 flights also had to be redirected, according to Russia’s Association of Tour Operators.

More than 230 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russia since Saturday morning, including 27 over the capital, according to the Russian defence ministry.

According to Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia, four major airports serving Moscow – Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovskiy – were affected, resulting in 134 flights being redirected.

By 10pm Moscow time, only two airports remained closed to air traffic – Vnukovo in the Moscow region and Grabtsevo in the Kaluga region.