Moscow Hit by 1,000 Ukrainian Drones on Election Day, Two Killed and Refinery Ablaze
Ukraine launched its largest-ever drone attack on Moscow as Russians voted in a parliamentary election, killing two people and setting an oil refinery on fire.
Ukrainian drones struck Moscow on the final day of Russia's parliamentary election, killing at least two people and damaging an oil refinery in what officials called the largest drone attack on the Russian capital since the war began [246225][246030]. More than 1,000 drones were fired at Russia, with about 450 aimed at Moscow, according to the city's mayor [246200][246212].
The attack came as voting ended in a three-day parliamentary election widely seen as a managed process with no real opposition [246030][244634]. The ruling United Russia party was expected to keep its majority, and the only party that criticized the war had been removed from the ballot [244634][246061].
Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said the strike was meant to disrupt the election but that "the enemy failed" [245822]. Russia's defence ministry accused Ukraine of trying to "disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens" and promised to intensify strikes on Kyiv in response [246061].
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine struck key Russian oil industry facilities, writing on Telegram that "Russia's war machine is powered by billions of dollars in oil money" and that long-range strikes had hit it hard [245894]. He said the attack used several drone systems and thanked Ukrainian soldiers for their precision [245822].
In Ukraine, at least four people were killed in Russian strikes on the Kyiv region, including a mother and two children killed in the town of Hlevakha outside Kyiv, according to Ukrainian authorities [246225][245894].