Two people were killed in one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks targeting the Moscow region, while an oil refinery in the Russian capital was also hit, authorities said on Sunday, as Russia entered the final day of its parliamentary elections.
Ukraine and Russia have continued striking each other’s energy infrastructure despite US President Donald Trump announcing on Monday that both sides had agreed to halt such attacks.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that Russia had foiled the biggest Ukrainian drone assault, with more than 1,600 drones shot down since Saturday, including 450 that were heading towards Moscow.
Sobyanin said several drones reached the oil refinery complex and another struck an apartment building. He added that there were no casualties within Moscow.
“The unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections,” he said. “The adversary failed to achieve this.”
Reuters witnesses reported hearing explosions in Moscow and seeing smoke rising from the area of the Moscow refinery. The extent of the damage to the facility was not immediately clear.
Ukrainian attacks have disrupted a substantial portion of Russia’s oil refining capacity, leading to shortages of oil products, higher fuel prices and long queues at petrol stations across several regions spanning the country’s 11 time zones.
The Moscow refinery, which has been targeted on several occasions, processed 11.6 million metric tons of crude oil in 2024. It produced 2.9 million tons of gasoline and 3.2 million tons of diesel, according to the latest available data.
Both Russia and Ukraine maintain that they do not deliberately target civilians.
In the broader Moscow region, two people were killed, while 400 residents, including 70 children, were evacuated from a 21-storey apartment building in the Ramenskoye district. Several houses were also damaged, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said.
