Moscow Mayor Says Ukrainian Drone Strikes Aimed to Disrupt Russian Vote
MOSCOW — Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin accused Kyiv of trying to disrupt Russia's parliamentary elections after Ukrainian drones targeted the capital overnight, hours before the final day of voting.
“This unprecedented attack was clearly aimed at sabotaging the elections. However, the enemy did not succeed,” Sobyanin wrote on Telegram early Sunday.
He described it as the largest attack by enemy drones on Moscow, saying Russian air defenses had intercepted 1,600 drones since the previous day, including 450 headed toward the capital.
Despite the interception claims, some drones reached the grounds of an oil refinery and one struck a residential building, Sobyanin said. He said there were no fatalities. Restrictions were imposed at all four of Moscow's airports, disrupting travel in and out of the capital.
Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said 20 people had been injured. He had earlier reported two people killed and at least six injured, including two children, in a series of drone attacks. Fires broke out in several locations, multiple residential buildings were damaged and hundreds of people were evacuated, he wrote on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the attacks on the Moscow region, saying on social media that one of Russia's key oil facilities and a logistics facility had been hit. He also mentioned an attack on a facility in the Voronezh region and renewed his call for Russia to end the war.
Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said 43 drones had been intercepted over the region. Two people were injured, and houses and cars were damaged, according to the governor.
The strikes came as Sunday marked the end of Russia's three-day parliamentary election, the first since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The vote is expected to cement the dominance of Kremlin-loyal parties in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. After opposition candidates were excluded, all 10 parties on the ballot are regarded as close to the Kremlin and supportive of the invasion.
Russia's elections are widely viewed as neither free nor democratic. Independent election observers have already reported attempted manipulation and other rule violations.
Despite protests from Ukraine, voting is being held for the first time in Russian-controlled parts of the annexed Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson. It is also taking place for the second time on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. The international community considers elections in occupied territory to be a violation of international law.
The overnight drone strikes underscored how unmanned systems have become central to a war now defined by long-range attacks. Since its full-scale invasion, Russia has repeatedly hit Ukrainian cities with ballistic and cruise missiles, glide bombs and drones. Ukraine, backed by Western military support, has responded with strikes inside Russian territory, relying heavily on relatively cheap, rapidly produced drones as well as cruise missiles.
For Moscow, the timing of the attack gave officials a fresh opportunity to portray the election as under external threat. For Kyiv, the ability to reach the Russian capital and industrial sites signals the continued reach of its drone campaign, even as fighting grinds on along the front lines.