At least two individuals were killed and significant damage inflicted on a major energy facility when hundreds of drones targeted Moscow and its surrounding region on the final day of Russia’s parliamentary elections.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that air defenses intercepted more than 1,600 drones, including 450 aimed directly at the capital. He accused Kyiv of orchestrating the “unprecedented attack” to disrupt the tightly controlled three-day vote, which is expected to extend President Vladimir Putin’s 26-year hold on power.
“The enemy did not succeed,” Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.
Moscow regional Governor Andrey Vorobyov confirmed the fatalities, identifying them as a 44-year-old woman and an elderly man who died in separate incidents. Additionally, a fire caused by a drone striking a 21-story building forced the evacuation of approximately 400 residents.
Sobyanin reported that a facility within the Moscow Oil Refinery was damaged but noted no immediate casualties at the site, where emergency services remain on location. The refinery has previously been targeted by Ukrainian strikes in recent months.
The assault aligns with Kyiv’s intensified long-range drone campaign against Russian targets, particularly focusing on energy infrastructure to curb a vital revenue stream funding the Kremlin’s military operations in their fifth year.
The attacks contradict assertions made by US President Donald Trump, who claimed on Monday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to spare each other’s energy facilities.
The strikes coincided with Russia’s first parliamentary elections since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, a conflict that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Voting also took place in occupied Ukrainian territories.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force Command, Russian forces launched 138 drones across the country overnight. Interfax-Ukraine reported that air defenses neutralized or shot down 101 of them.
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