Ukraine has carried out its largest ever drone attack on the Russian capital and surrounding areas as voting in parliamentary elections reaches its final day.
Overnight, more than 1,900 drones, eight guided air bombs, eight cruise missiles and four rockets were shot down, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Sunday. This total makes it the largest attack in Ukraine’s history, although Kiev has not confirmed the exact number of drones and projectiles launched.
At least three people were killed and a major oil refinery in the Moscow region was damaged.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin linked the attack to the vote, saying it was “clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the election.”
“The enemy did not succeed,” he said.
Sunday is the third and final day of the first parliamentary elections since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. With no credible opposition party, President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party is widely expected to win.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the attack on Russia in a statement to Telegram, but did not mention the election. The voting regions include four regions of Ukraine that were illegally annexed by Russia but are not under full Kremlin control.
“Last night, our long-range response had a very significant impact on the Moscow region,” Zelenskiy said, adding that the targeted facilities were bringing in “billions of dollars that sustain the war machine.”
Ukraine’s General Staff later announced that the main target of the attack was the Gazpromneft Moscow refinery in the Russian capital’s Kapotnya district. The facility is one of the largest refineries in the country in terms of production volume.
The attack comes as President Zelenskiy continues to push for more Patriot interceptor missiles as the United States continues talks with Ukraine and Russia to end the war.
Zelenskiy said on Sunday that he met US President Donald Trump, had “important conversations” and agreed to meet in New York to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly.
In a post to “We are cooperating with the American team and are prepared to take very serious measures,” Zelenskiy said.
Zelensky also thanked President Trump for signing the Russia sanctions bill named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Moscow Mayor Sobyanin said around 450 drones approaching the capital had been shot down.
“Nevertheless, several drones reached the premises of the Moscow refinery, and one crashed into a residential building,” he said.
Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyev said three people died in the attack, two people and one who later died in hospital. He said 20 other people, including three children, were injured in the overnight attack.
Separately, nine people were injured in the Belgorod region in southern Russia, local authorities said.
At the same time, Russia continued to attack Ukraine with drones and missiles. Kyiv region military governor Timur Tkachenko said three children and a woman were killed in the overnight attack on Sunday.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine, particularly Kiev, with near-constant air attacks for almost a month. President Zelenskiy said on Sunday that this week alone Russia had launched more than 2,000 attack drones, more than 1,700 aerial bombs and 19 missiles of various types against Ukraine.
