Moscow Reports ‘Largest’ Drone Attack During Russian Parliamentary Elections; Two Killed

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russia repelled what he described as the capital’s “largest enemy drone attack” on Sunday, as the country entered the final day of parliamentary voting. Two people were killed and 20 injured in overnight attacks in the wider Moscow region, CNN reported, citing regional governor Andrey Vorobiev.

Sobyanin claimed Russian forces had repelled more than 1,600 unmanned aerial vehicles “at all front lines” since Saturday, including 450 approaching Moscow. The larger figure referred to operations across fronts, rather than drones targeting the capital alone.

Several drones nevertheless reached the Moscow Oil Refinery, while one struck a residential building, the mayor said.

“This unprecedented attack was clearly planned to disrupt the elections. The enemy failed,” Sobyanin wrote on Telegram, thanking Russian air defence forces. His allegation about the intended disruption was not independently established in the report.

Ukraine Claims Oil, Logistics Hits

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the overnight operation had a “very significant impact” in the Moscow region, claiming strikes on a key Russian oil industry facility and a logistics facility.

“These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine,” he said.

Zelenskyy listed FP-1, RZ-100, MICH-2000, Palianytsia, Vendetta, Liutyi, Bars, Flamingo, Sichen and Pelican among the systems used. He credited Ukraine’s security service, unmanned systems forces, special operations forces and intelligence agencies for the operation.

He also said sanctions had been imposed on a facility in Russia’s Voronezh region and urged Moscow to end the war.

“Steps toward de-escalation are on the table—in energy and food security. What is needed is political will,” he said.

Civilian Toll, Competing Claims

The casualties reported in the wider Moscow region included three children among the 20 injured, according to CNN’s account of Vorobiev’s statement.

Separately, Zelenskyy accused Russia of launching more than 2,000 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 19 missiles against Ukraine over the past week.

He said a Russian first-person-view drone struck a monastery in the Kherson region, killing a member of the clergy and wounding four others. Critical and civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa, and residential buildings in Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, were also hit, he said.

Zelenskyy added that Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy had come under attack since Saturday evening. He called for further sanctions from the United States, Europe and G7 countries.

The extent of the damage claimed by either side was not independently established in the report.

Voting Under the Shadow of War

Sunday marks the third and final day of voting for the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of Parliament. The September 18–20 election is the first State Duma poll since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

President Vladimir Putin voted online on Friday. In a televised address ahead of the polls, he urged citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote, describing participation as a contribution to the country’s future.

The parliamentary election is being held alongside regional legislative, gubernatorial and municipal polls.

With inputs from ANI