At least two people have been killed after Ukraine launched a massive attack on Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that drones were fired towards a refinery and other oil industry facilities in the Russian capital and surrounding regions.
Russia, on the other hand, has condemned the attack, and accused Kyiv of interfering in the first parliamentary elections held since the war broke out in 2022.
The largest drone attack on Moscow in 2026
Sunday’s attack, as per the Russian defence ministry, is the largest against Moscow since the start of the year.
The exact number of drones fired at Moscow remains contested. As per an AFP report, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that over 1,600 drones were intercepted and shot down, 450 of which were aimed at Moscow.
However, citing the Russian Defence Ministry, Bloomberg and AP reported that its forces shot down around 1,110 drones across the country and over the Crimean peninsula.
Moscow regional Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram that at least two people were killed in the drone attacks – a 44-year-old woman and an elderly man – in two separate locations.
The governor also added that a fire triggered by a drone crashing into a 21-storey building led to the evacuation of 400 people.
Furthermore, Russia has described Ukraine’s latest attack as an attempt from Kyiv to disrupt and interfere in the parliamentary elections.
“The unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed,” said Mayor Sobyanin in a statement on Telegram.
The attack on Moscow came on the third and final day of voting in Russia’s first parliamentary elections since the start of the war in 2022.
Russia conducted voting in four Ukrainian regions that Moscow annexed after the war began but still doesn’t fully control, and in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Kyiv has denounced these polls as illegal.
Zelensky says ‘steps of de-escalation’ on table
Zelensky stated that one of Russia’s key oil facilities was hit in Sunday’s drone attack. He added that this attack came after Kyiv was subjected to over 2,000 drones, 1,700 aerial bombs, and 19 missile attacks this week.
After confirming the drone attack on Moscow and surrounding Russian cities, Zelensky stated that Kyiv remains ready to talk and negotiate to end the war.
“Moscow must end its brutal war and choose peace instead of building layered rings of air defense at the expense of other regions. Steps toward de-escalation are on the table – in energy and food security. What is needed is political will,” the Ukrainian president wrote on X.
(With inputs from agencies)
