Ukraine launches over 1,000 drones at Russia, including attacks on Moscow amid elections
Ukrainian forces fired more than 1,000 drones at targets across Russia, with hundreds directed at Moscow, killing two people and injuring 20 as Russia held its wartime parliamentary vote.
Ukrainian forces launched more than 1,000 drones against Russian targets overnight, including a large wave aimed at the capital, Moscow, officials said on Sunday. The attacks coincided with the final day of Russia's parliamentary elections.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone barrage damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery and a residential building, and that 450 drones were intercepted before reaching the city. Local governor Andrei Vorobyov reported two fatalities—a 74-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman—and 20 injuries in the broader Moscow region.
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, posted on social media that the operation employed a mix of missiles and domestically produced drones, including the Flamingo and Pelican systems, targeting oil and logistics facilities. He said the strikes were intended to strain Russia's war-financing.
Russia's defence ministry claimed its forces shot down 1,100 Ukrainian drones across the country, as well as over the annexed Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea. Sobyanin added that the attacks aimed to disrupt the voting process, but that the effort had failed.
The drone campaign reflects Ukraine's growing capability in long-range unmanned aerial systems, which it has used to strike deep inside Russian territory since the war began in 2022.