MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. The West has "swallowed" the UAV attack by Kiev on Russian territory, which occurred immediately after Ukraine’s statements it was ready for truce, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated.
"On March 11, the Ukrainians and [Vladimir] Zelensky announced their readiness for a truce, asserting that there was a need to compel [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to act. On that very day, though, they launched a record number of drones against central Russia, including Moscow and the surrounding region - nearly 340 drones. Such an event has never happened before. The West accepted it without protest. No one said, ‘How dare you? We just agreed to a ceasefire, and you publicly announced it,’" he remarked in an interview with TV Channel One.
Commenting on the Ukrainian attack on an oil tank farm in the Krasnodar Region that occurred on March 19, a day after an agreement to halt strikes on energy infrastructure, Lavrov remarked, "I believe there is a new dimension to these actions - an intention not only to deceive but to act with open malice, engaging in actions that directly contradict what you were asked to do and what you appeared to have agreed upon."
On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation during which they discussed the situation in Ukraine, measures to prevent escalation, and various international issues. Putin endorsed Trump’s proposal for a 30-day mutual pause in strikes on energy infrastructure by both parties involved in the conflict and instantly issued the relevant orders to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ukrainian drone attack on March 11
According to the Defense Ministry, 343 Ukrainian drones were shot down over various Russian regions in the early hours of March 11, including 91 over the Moscow Region and six attack UAVs near the Kursk nuclear power plant. This marked the largest drone attack in 2025. In response, Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a case regarding the incident as a terrorist attack. The Russian Health Ministry reported that the UAV attack in the Moscow Region resulted in injuries to 18 people, including three children, and three adults were killed. Apartment buildings and other facilities sustained damage.