Moscow, Russia - Hundreds of drones targeted Moscow and its surrounding region, killing at least two people and damaging a major refinery only a day before Russia's parliamentary elections, authorities said on Sunday.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that more than 1600 drones had been intercepted and shot down over Russia, 450 of which were aimed at the capital.
He accused Ukraine of attempting to interfere with a tightly controlled three-day election that is set to tighten President Vladimir Putin's 26-year grip on power.
"The unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections," he said on Telegram. "The enemy did not succeed."
Moscow regional Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on the social media platform that at least two people were killed – a 44-year-old woman and an elderly man – in two separate locations.
A fire triggered by a drone crashing into a 21-story building also led to 400 people being evacuated.
The attacks come at a time when has Kyiv stepped up its long-range drone strike campaigns, particularly against energy infrastructure.
"A facility on the territory of the Moscow Oil Refinery has been damaged," Sobyanin added, noting that no casualties had been reported so far and that emergency services were on the scene. This major refinery has already been hit by Ukrainian strikes in recent months.
"Our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a statement on X.
"One of Russia’s key oil industry facilities and the aggressor’s logistics facility were hit. These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine."
"I thank our warriors for their accuracy," the statement read. "Moscow must end its brutal war and choose peace instead of building layered rings of air defense at the expense of other regions."