MOSCOW: Russia said on Friday that it had shot down nearly 1,200 Ukrainian drones overnight, in one of the largest waves of attacks by Kyiv, which left at least four people dead.

The attack came a day after intense diplomatic efforts in US-led talks aimed at ending the war, which is approaching its fifth year.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday before travelling to Dublin for discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“In the course of the previous night… air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 1,198” Ukrainian drones over more than 15 Russian regions, Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.