Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 1,110 Ukrainian drones across Russia, occupied Crimea and the Black Sea during the day. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin separately said more than 1,600 drones had been intercepted since Saturday, including about 450 headed toward the capital. The figures could not be independently reconciled.

The attack came as Russians completed a three-day election for all 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. It was the first parliamentary election since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Moscow refinery and residential areas hit

Russian authorities said several drones reached the Moscow region despite the air defenses.

Sobyanin said a facility at the Moscow Oil Refinery was damaged. Reuters witnesses reported hearing explosions and seeing smoke rising from the refinery area. The plant processed 11.6 million metric tons of crude oil in 2024, according to the latest available figures cited by Reuters.

A residential building in the Moscow region was also damaged.

Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, said two people were killed and 20 injured in the wider region in the initial reports. Reuters later reported that a third person died from injuries, bringing the reported death toll in the region to three. About 400 people, including 70 children, were evacuated from a damaged 21-story apartment building in Ramenskoye, according to Vorobyov.

Russian officials said an attack also killed an election official in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine’s Kherson region.

Ukraine has not publicly claimed responsibility for the specific attack in Moscow.

Russia says the attack was intended to disrupt voting

Sobyanin described the drone assault as an attempt to interfere with the parliamentary election.

He said the attack was unprecedented in scale but claimed that it did not prevent the election from proceeding.

Russian election authorities also reported cyberattacks against voting systems during the election. Despite those incidents and the drone strikes, officials said the voting process continued.

The Kremlin had presented the election as an important demonstration of national unity during the war. President Vladimir Putin had also emphasized the participation of voters in regions of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed.

Ukraine and most of the international community do not recognize Russia’s annexation of those territories. The European Union has said it does not recognize elections conducted by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territory.

Kyiv says its strikes target military and economic infrastructure

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the operation involved Ukrainian-made drones and missiles and targeted oil and logistics infrastructure.

Zelenskyy said the strikes were intended to put pressure on Russia’s ability to finance and supply its military campaign. He specifically referred to attacks on oil and logistics facilities.

Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to strike targets deep inside Russia, particularly oil refineries and other infrastructure connected to the country’s energy system.

Kyiv has said such operations are intended to reduce Russia’s ability to sustain the war.

Russia has repeatedly condemned the attacks and has responded with its own strikes against Ukraine.

Attack comes amid continuing strikes on energy infrastructure

The Moscow refinery was not the first Russian energy facility to come under attack.

Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have contributed to disruptions in domestic fuel supplies, according to recent reporting. Reuters reported that attacks have knocked out a significant portion of Russian refining capacity, contributing to fuel shortages and higher prices in parts of the country.

The Moscow refinery is one of Russia’s major fuel-processing facilities serving the capital region.

Damage to such facilities can have effects beyond the immediate military campaign because refineries convert crude oil into gasoline, diesel and other products needed by civilian and military users.

Russia vows further strikes

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it would intensify attacks against Ukrainian military targets following the drone assault.

The ministry characterized the strikes as attacks on civilian targets, while Ukrainian officials have described their long-range campaign as focused on military and economic infrastructure.

Neither side’s broader claims about targeting practices can be independently established from the battlefield reporting available on the day of the attack.

The strikes came despite a recent U.S. effort to establish an understanding between Russia and Ukraine concerning attacks on energy infrastructure. The two sides have continued to accuse each other of violating that understanding.

Election ends under the shadow of the war

The drone attack occurred on the third and final day of voting in Russia’s parliamentary election.

The election included voting in Crimea and in parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia that Russia claims to have annexed. Kyiv has rejected the elections as illegal, while the European Union has said it will not recognize voting or results organized by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territory.

The election was already taking place under significant restrictions on political opposition. Several anti-war figures and organizations have been excluded, imprisoned or forced into exile, while the liberal Yabloko party was removed from the ballot.

The attack therefore added a direct wartime security crisis to an election already being conducted under the conditions of Russia’s prolonged conflict with Ukraine.

Early results released after voting ended showed President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party leading by a wide margin. Those results are separate from the question of the drone attack itself and do not establish the attack’s effect on voter behavior or the election outcome.

The immediate impact was more concrete: damage to infrastructure, deaths and injuries, evacuations and another demonstration that Ukraine’s long-range strike capability can reach deep into Russian territory.

For Moscow, the attack also underscored the security challenge facing Russia as it conducted its first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion began.

Reporting Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense — reported drone interceptions and air-defense operations; Moscow City Government — reports on strikes affecting Moscow and the Moscow Oil Refinery; Moscow Regional Government — casualty, injury and evacuation information; Russian Central Election Commission — election-day security and voting information; Office of the President of Ukraine — Ukrainian statements concerning the purpose and targets of long-range strikes.

The post Ukraine Launches Massive Drone Attack on Russia During Parliamentary Vote appeared first on Journos News - Breaking News, World News, Top Stories, Todays Headlines and Flash Reports.

Russia’s Central Election Commission reported United Russia with 57.19% of the party-list vote after 36.87% of precinct tally sheets had been processed. The party was also leading in 161 of the 225 single-member constituencies, according to the commission.

The results remain preliminary. Russia’s State Duma has 450 seats, with half elected through the federal party-list system and the other half through single-member constituencies.

The three-day election, which ended Sunday, was the first parliamentary vote held in Russia since the country launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

United Russia holds a wide early lead

United Russia was well ahead of the other parties in the preliminary party-list count.

The Communist Party was second with 13.85%, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia with 9.16% and New People with 8.01%. A Just Russia had 5.23%, putting five parties above the 5% threshold in the results reported after more than one-third of precincts had been processed.

United Russia had won 324 of the State Duma’s 450 seats in the previous parliamentary election in 2021.

The current vote therefore began with the party seeking to retain its parliamentary dominance while the Kremlin has presented the election as an important test of support for its policies.

Putin himself was not a candidate. United Russia has nevertheless campaigned as the principal parliamentary vehicle supporting the president and his government.

Vote held under wartime conditions

The election took place against the backdrop of the continuing war in Ukraine and intensified attacks inside Russia.

Ukrainian forces launched a large drone attack toward Moscow and other Russian regions as voting entered its final day. Russian officials said the attacks were intended to disrupt the election, while Ukrainian officials did not accept Russia’s characterization of the vote or its claims concerning the purpose of the attacks. At least five people were reported killed across Moscow-region and Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine during the attacks.

Russian authorities also reported cyberattacks against election-related infrastructure during the three-day vote.

The Central Election Commission said turnout reached 56.66% when polls closed Sunday. More than 111 million voters were eligible to participate.

Opposition faced restrictions

The election was held in a political environment in which major anti-war opposition forces had limited access to the ballot.

The Yabloko party, which has opposed the war, was excluded from the federal party-list ballot after a Russian court ruling, although some of its candidates participated in individual constituencies. Other opposition politicians have been imprisoned, barred from political activity or living outside Russia.

The Communist Party and other parties remaining on the ballot criticized aspects of the election, although they continue to operate within Russia’s established parliamentary system.

The restricted political environment has become an important part of how outside observers assess the significance of the preliminary results.

Voting extended into occupied Ukrainian territories

Russia also conducted voting in areas of Ukraine that it controls militarily and claims to have annexed.

Ballots were cast in parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, as well as Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Ukraine rejects Russia’s sovereignty claims over those territories and has described the voting there as illegal. The European Union has also rejected Russia’s conduct of elections in the occupied Ukrainian territories, describing the action as contrary to international law.

The inclusion of those territories affects both the geographic scope of the election and the political dispute surrounding its legitimacy.

Results remain subject to the full count

The preliminary numbers do not yet establish the final distribution of seats.

The party-list component accounts for only 225 of the 450 State Duma seats. The remaining 225 seats depend on the results in individual constituencies, where United Russia was leading in most districts in the early count.

The early figures nevertheless show United Russia with a substantial lead over the other participating parties.

The final parliamentary balance will depend on the completed count and the allocation of the single-member seats.

For the Kremlin, the election provides an opportunity to demonstrate continued parliamentary support during the fourth year of the full-scale war. For opponents and outside observers, the restricted political environment and the exclusion of significant anti-war forces remain central to assessments of what the vote can demonstrate about public opinion.

The preliminary count will continue as election authorities process the remaining ballots.

Reporting Credit:  Russian Central Election Commission — preliminary party-list results, single-member district standings and turnout; Russian State Duma — parliamentary structure and 450-seat electoral system; Russian government/election authorities — official election administration and security statements.

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Voting is taking place in Russian-controlled areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, regions that Moscow declared annexed in September 2022 but does not fully control. The international community does not recognize the annexations, and Ukraine regards the territories as sovereign Ukrainian land under Russian occupation.

The election also includes Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 and incorporated into its electoral system earlier.

Russia extends its federal election into occupied territory

The 2026 election is the first Russian parliamentary vote since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

All 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, are being contested. Voting is taking place nationwide over three days, with electronic and early voting arrangements used in areas where authorities cite security concerns.

In the four Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow in 2022, voting began before the nationwide election period. Russian authorities said the extended voting arrangements were necessary because of security conditions.

Portable ballot boxes have also been used in some areas, with election officials accompanied by armed Russian personnel, according to reporting from occupied territory.

Russian officials describe the territories as part of the Russian Federation and refer to residents there as Russian voters.

Kyiv rejects that status.

Ukraine rejects the vote as illegal

Ukrainian authorities have called on residents of the occupied territories not to participate and have said the organization of Russian elections there violates Ukrainian law.

Ukraine’s Security Service said the Kremlin was attempting to use the elections to reinforce its claims over the occupied territories and warned that organizing or publicly promoting the vote could carry criminal penalties under Ukrainian law.

Ukraine’s position is that Russia cannot lawfully conduct elections on Ukrainian territory without Kyiv’s consent.

The European Union has likewise rejected the Russian vote in the occupied regions. European Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand said the bloc would not recognize the elections or their results in those territories.

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems said the vote in occupied Ukrainian territory has no legal force under international law and urged governments not to recognize it.

Russia says residents are voting as Russian citizens

Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly emphasized participation in the territories Moscow claims to have incorporated.

In remarks before the election, Putin said residents of the regions would be voting for the State Duma for the first time since what Moscow describes as their “reunification” with Russia. Russian authorities also say more than 3.5 million voters are registered across the four regions.

Those figures and Russia’s legal characterization of the territories are not accepted by Ukraine or most of the international community.

The competing positions reflect the central issue surrounding the vote: Russia is administering the territories as part of its electoral system, while Ukraine and the international community continue to regard them as Ukrainian territory under occupation.

Reports raise questions about voter pressure

The conditions under which voting is taking place have also prompted allegations of coercion.

Human-rights activists working with residents of occupied Ukrainian territory have reported cases in which Russian election officials and security personnel visited homes with portable ballot boxes.

Violeta Artemchuk of the Donbas SOS human-rights group told The Associated Press that some residents faced pressure connected to employment, pensions or social assistance if they did not participate. Those allegations could not be independently verified in every reported case.

Russian authorities have not accepted the characterization of the election as coercive and maintain that the voting process is being conducted under Russian law.

The use of armed personnel around some voting operations has nevertheless made the security environment visibly different from ordinary peacetime elections.

The election takes place under tight political controls

The vote is also taking place in Russia itself under a highly restricted political environment.

The election is the first parliamentary contest since the invasion, and major opposition figures and anti-war candidates have been excluded, imprisoned, exiled or otherwise prevented from competing. The liberal Yabloko party, which has criticized the war, was barred from the nationwide party-list ballot.

Russia’s Central Election Commission and government have rejected criticism of the electoral system, saying the election is being conducted according to Russian law.

International election observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe are not monitoring the vote. The OSCE has previously criticized restrictions placed on its election-observation activities in Russia.

The absence of internationally recognized monitoring is another source of dispute over the credibility of the process.

Moscow is using the election to integrate claimed territories

The inclusion of the four Ukrainian regions has a significance beyond the selection of lawmakers.

By placing residents of Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory inside the same federal electoral process as voters in Russia, Moscow is further integrating those areas into its political and administrative system.

The process follows earlier Russian-organized elections in the occupied territories, including regional and local elections held in 2023. Ukraine has rejected those votes as unlawful.

The parliamentary election extends that integration to Russia’s national legislature.

Moscow has also issued Russian passports and established Russian administrative institutions in occupied areas, while Ukraine and its international partners continue to reject the underlying annexation claims.

The vote does not settle the sovereignty dispute

Holding a Russian election in the territories does not change their status under international law.

Russia claims sovereignty over the four regions based on its 2022 annexation declarations. Ukraine maintains sovereignty over all four, and the United Nations and most governments do not recognize Russia’s territorial claims.

The discrepancy means that any State Duma representation produced by the election for residents of those areas will be recognized by Moscow but rejected by Kyiv and countries that do not recognize the annexations.

The election therefore creates a parallel set of political claims rather than resolving the territorial dispute.

A wartime election with broader implications

Russia’s parliamentary election is taking place while the war with Ukraine continues and while Moscow maintains control over only portions of the four regions it claims to have annexed.

The inclusion of those territories demonstrates the extent to which Russia has incorporated its territorial claims into its domestic political system.

For Ukraine, the vote is another attempt by Moscow to normalize its presence in territory Kyiv considers occupied.

For Russia, it is presented as an exercise of federal political rights by residents whom Moscow now considers Russian citizens.

The competing interpretations are unlikely to be reconciled by the election itself. The territorial status of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson remains a matter of international dispute, while the results of voting there are not expected to receive recognition from Ukraine or governments that reject Russia’s annexation claims.

Reporting Credit: Russian Central Election Commission — election arrangements and voting in Russian-controlled territories; Government of Ukraine / Security Service of Ukraine — Ukrainian position on the legality of Russian elections in occupied territory; European Union — position on recognition of the vote and its results; OSCE — election-observation and electoral-process context.

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