Drone Attack Targets Moscow as Russia Concludes Parliamentary Elections
Russian authorities said a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeted Moscow and other parts of Russia overnight, killing two people and injuring 20 in the wider Moscow region. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the reported operation.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the assault as the largest drone attack yet directed at the Russian capital. He said Russian forces destroyed 450 drones approaching Moscow, while strikes damaged an oil refinery and a residential building. Regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov identified those killed as a 74-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence reported that 1,100 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across the country, over Russian-occupied Crimea and above the Black Sea. These figures could not be independently verified in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
The strikes occurred as Russia concluded the third and final day of parliamentary elections, the country’s first such vote during the war in Ukraine. Sobyanin said the drone operation was intended to disrupt voting but did not achieve that objective.
The election took place with little organized opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s policies and was expected to reinforce the Kremlin’s control of parliament. Russia also conducted voting in four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, despite not fully controlling them, as well as in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Ukraine has rejected voting in the occupied territories as illegal.
The reported attack highlights the expanding geographic reach of the conflict, with both countries increasingly relying on drones for long-range operations. While Russia has repeatedly launched drone attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, Ukraine has also stepped up strikes inside Russia. The latest incident combined military, civilian and political dimensions, damaging infrastructure, causing casualties and unfolding during a closely controlled national election. Independent confirmation of the full scale and damage remained limited on Sunday.