ABSTRACT

Ukraine fired more than 1,000 drones at Russia overnight, including hundreds directed at Moscow, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials, as the Kremlin concluded the third and final day of its parliamentary election on Sunday. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the wave as the "largest ever" attack on the capital and said a Moscow oil refinery and a residential building were damaged. Moscow region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said two people were killed and 20 wounded in the wider region; the dead were identified as a 74-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman, according to NPR and the New York Post. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had used a range of missiles and drones, including domestically produced Flamingo and Pelican missiles, against oil and logistics facilities, writing that these represent "billions of dollars that sustain the war machine."

France 24

Russia reports large drone attack on Moscow as parliamentary voting ends

Sep 20, 2026, 4:14 PM

Context

The attack coincided with the third and last day of Russia's first wartime parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Partial official results reported by France 24 showed the ruling United Russia party ahead with 57.5% of the vote, with the Communists, the LDPR, the New People party and Just Russia trailing but on course to win seats in the State Duma, the lower house. Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said turnout had reached nearly 57% as of early evening Moscow time, according to France 24; NBC News reported that turnout was above 45% by late morning Sunday.

Russia also held voting in the four Ukrainian regions it claimed after the war began — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — which it does not fully control, as well as in Crimea, the peninsula annexed in 2014, according to the Times of India, NPR, the New York Post and Fox News. Ukraine has called the voting in occupied territories illegal and dismissed the election as a "pseudo election," according to France 24 and NBC News.

Russian officials attributed the attack to an attempt to disrupt the vote. Sobyanin said on Telegram that the "unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed," adding that 450 drones were destroyed while approaching the capital, a figure also cited by the Times of India, NPR, the New York Post, Arab News and NBC News. Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces shot down 1,100 Ukrainian drones across the country, over Crimea and over the Black Sea, according to Fox News, the Times of India, NPR and the New York Post. France 24 reported the ministry said it had downed nearly 2,000 Ukrainian drones and eight cruise missiles in 24 hours and said it would intensify strikes on Ukrainian military targets in response. NBC News and Arab News reported Sobyanin saying more than 1,600 drones had been intercepted since Saturday.

Arab News reported that a fire caused by a drone crashing into a 21-storey building led to 400 people being evacuated, citing Vorobyov, and that Sobyanin said no casualties had been reported at the refinery and emergency services were on the scene. Vorobyov said a 74-year-old man in the Orekhovo-Zuyevo District and a 44-year-old woman in Ramenskoye were killed, according to NBC News. NBC News also reported that a third person later died of their injuries and that 15 people were hospitalised, including two teenagers aged 14 and 15. France 24 reported that drone strikes killed three people in the Moscow region and two more in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's Kherson region, including an election official, citing the region's governor and the election commission.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that "one of the key enterprises of the Russian Federation's oil industry and an aggressor's logistics facility have been struck," according to Fox News, the Times of India and NPR. He said Russia had launched more than 2,000 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 19 missiles in the past week and called for new sanctions from the United States, Europe and the G7, adding that Moscow could "end its brutal war and choose peace" if there is political will. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X that his morning "started with congratulations from many foreign colleagues on Moscow Burning Day," adding that "now that the war has come home, Russians have only Putin to blame for it," according to NBC News. The New York Post reported there was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the attack.

Russia continued strikes on Ukraine. NBC News and Fox News reported that three children and a woman — identified by Fox News as their mother — were killed in the Kyiv region, citing regional official Tymur Tkachenko; the Times of India, citing Ukraine's emergency service, said a mother and her two children were killed near Kyiv. Fox News reported that Zelenskyy said a Russian drone strike hit a monastery in Ukraine's Kherson region on Saturday, killing a member of the clergy and wounding four people.

Critics of the election said it lacked genuine competition. Most anti-war candidates were barred from the ballot, according to France 24 and NBC News. Anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin said the elections were "crooked" with no trace of real opposition, according to NBC News. Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov demonstrably spoiled his ballot paper, writing his party's name and the slogan "For peace," according to France 24 and NBC News; the party said it feared for its freedom after courts handed long jail terms to two senior figures before the vote. Election authorities said the process had been mostly smooth despite waves of cyberattacks on voting systems, according to France 24 and NBC News. France 24 reported that Russia's opposition in exile had called on opponents of the authorities to line up at polling stations at noon, and that long lines formed in some locations, with unclear effect on the outcome.

France 24 reported that Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a former president, said United Russia had performed with dignity and that Russians had entrusted it to govern further. Pamfilova was quoted by RIA as saying: "The more pressure they put on us, the more we are seeing an unprecedented level of what I would call public unity." The NEST think tank in Berlin, co-founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, said the vote could still produce awkward moments for the Kremlin at a time of economic strain, adding that the Communist party and the New People party could attract votes the authorities would prefer go to United Russia, according to France 24 and NBC News. Fox News reported that Putin said in a televised address before the vote that it would demonstrate that millions stand behind Russian soldiers, and that he accused Ukraine of interfering, citing a strike that killed an election official in her home in the Russian-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia region on Tuesday; Reuters could not independently verify the details and there was no comment from Kyiv.

Arab News reported that the strike came after US President Donald Trump said Monday that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to target each other's energy facilities, and that the Moscow refinery has already been hit by Ukrainian strikes in recent months. The Times of India and NPR reported that Kyiv's long-range strike strategy aims to make the Russian public feel the war's consequences and increase pressure on Putin to negotiate a peace settlement, and that Putin has given no indication he intends to halt the invasion. NPR reported that fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometre front line in eastern and southern Ukraine has slowed amid large numbers of drones and ground robots.

All Perspectives

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin / Russian officials: "The biggest attack by enemy drones has been repelled," he said on Telegram. "This unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed." He said 450 drones were destroyed en route to the capital and that the attack damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery and a residential building.

Moscow region Governor Andrey Vorobyov: Said two people were killed — a 74-year-old man in the Orekhovo-Zuyevo District and a 44-year-old woman in Ramenskoye — and that 20 people were wounded across the wider Moscow region. According to Arab News, he also said a fire caused by a drone crashing into a 21-storey building led to 400 people being evacuated, and did not specify the drones' origin.

Russia's Defence Ministry: Said its forces shot down 1,100 Ukrainian drones across the country, over Crimea and over the Black Sea, according to Fox News, the Times of India, NPR and the New York Post. France 24 reported the ministry said Ukraine also fired Flamingo cruise missiles, that it had downed nearly 2,000 drones and eight cruise missiles in 24 hours, and that it would intensify its own strikes on Ukrainian military targets in response.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: "Tonight in the Moscow region, our long-range responses were felt very acutely," he wrote. "One of the key enterprises of the Russian Federation's oil industry and an aggressor's logistics facility have been struck. These are billions of dollars that support the war machine." He said Kyiv used a range of missiles and drones including domestically produced Flamingo and Pelican missiles, that Russia had launched more than 2,000 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 19 missiles in the past week, and that the moment was right for new sanctions by the United States, Europe and G7 countries to "force peace through strength." He also said Moscow could "end its brutal war and choose peace" if there is political will, and that steps toward de-escalation are on the table in energy and food security.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha: Wrote on X that his morning started with congratulations from many foreign colleagues on "Moscow Burning Day," adding: "Now that the war has come home, Russians have only Putin to blame for it. The message to him is simple: look out the Kremlin window, see the flames over Moscow — and end this war."

Yabloko party / leader Nikolai Rybakov: Rybakov demonstrably spoiled his ballot paper, writing his party's name and the slogan "For peace," according to France 24 and NBC News. He told NBC News: "No one in the world can claim anymore that everyone in Russia supports what is happening. Now everyone has seen that millions of people disagree with what's going on, and they have turned their attention to Yabloko precisely because it consistently advocates for peace and for an alternative to the status quo." Party figures said they feared for their freedom after courts handed long jail terms to two senior party members before the vote for comments about the conflict.

Anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin: Told NBC News the elections were "crooked" with no trace of real opposition, though he said disapproval could appear through a higher number of spoiled ballots or increased tactical voting against United Russia. He had tried to challenge Putin in the presidential election two years earlier but was barred from running.

Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova: Said the latest attacks had not deterred voters: "The more pressure they put on us, the more we are seeing an unprecedented level of what I would call public unity," according to RIA. She said turnout had reached nearly 57% as of early evening Moscow time, per France 24, and above 45% by late morning Sunday, per NBC News. Election authorities said the process had been mostly smooth despite cyberattacks.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council: Declared that United Russia had performed with dignity, a result he said showed that Russians had entrusted it to govern further, according to France 24.

NEST think tank, Berlin: Said the vote could still produce awkward moments for the Kremlin at a time of economic strain: "The consequences of the war are increasingly being felt within the country, and accumulated anxiety and frustration may translate into votes for the systemic opposition parties that the Kremlin has allowed to remain on the ballot."

Kyiv government on the Russian vote: Ukraine, which has suspended elections under martial law, has dismissed the Russian vote as a "pseudo election" and considers voting in the occupied territories illegal, according to France 24, NBC News, the Times of India and the New York Post.

Russian President Vladimir Putin: Said in a televised address before the vote that it would underline support for Russian troops: "Your choice, and your will, will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our soldiers, that we are a united people bound together by shared values, historical memory, and love for our homeland, and that no one will succeed in dividing or intimidating us." According to NBC News, he said: "Participation in the elections is our joint contribution to Russia's victory." Fox News reported he accused Ukraine of trying to interfere in the election, citing a strike that killed an election official in the Russian-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia region on Tuesday.

Position not represented in the source reporting: Moscow Oil Refinery operator/owner; United Russia party leadership (only a statement from Dmitry Medvedev, a Security Council official, is reported).

Where sources differ

Number of drones downed: Fox News, the Times of India, NPR and the New York Post reported the Russian Defence Ministry said 1,100 Ukrainian drones were shot down; NBC News and Arab News reported Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 1,600 were intercepted; France 24 reported the ministry said nearly 2,000 drones and eight cruise missiles were downed in the last 24 hours.
Casualties: Fox News, the Times of India, NPR, the New York Post and Arab News reported Governor Andrey Vorobyov saying two people were killed and 20 wounded; NBC News reported a third person later died of injuries and that 15 people were hospitalised including two teenagers; France 24 reported three people killed in the Moscow region and two more in the Russian-held part of Kherson region, one of them an election official.
Number of drones launched: most sources said more than 1,000, while France 24 described "hundreds of drones" being launched at Moscow and other regions.
Ukrainian comment: the New York Post reported there was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the attack, while NBC News, Fox News, the Times of India and NPR quoted statements from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and, in NBC's case, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, about the strikes.
Identification of Kyiv-region victims: NBC News and Fox News reported three children and a woman killed, which Fox News described as their mother; the Times of India, citing Ukraine's emergency service, reported a mother and her two children killed.

Gaps & Unknowns

None of the sources provides independently verified figures for the number of drones launched or downed; the Russian Defence Ministry and Moscow mayor's tallies differ and no independent confirmation is cited.
The final, complete results of the State Duma election were not available in any source; only partial figures reported by France 24 and turnout figures were given.
No source establishes who was responsible for the reported cyberattacks on Russian voting systems, or their extent.
The effect of the opposition's call for noon queues at polling stations on the outcome is described as unclear.
No source establishes whether the reported US-brokered understanding that Ukraine and Russia would not target each other's energy facilities was formally in place or whether the Moscow refinery strike affected it.
The operator or owner of the Moscow Oil Refinery is not quoted or identified in any source, and no comment from it is reported.
No source establishes a confirmed total death toll across both countries from the overnight strikes.
Ukraine's response specifically to the reported civilian deaths in the Moscow region is not established; the New York Post reported no immediate comment, while other sources quoted Ukrainian officials describing the strikes in general terms.
The claim that a strike killed an election official in Zaporizhzhia was not independently verified and drew no comment from Kyiv, according to Fox News.
No source reports whether the Kremlin or United Russia issued a formal response to the drone attack beyond statements from Sobyanin, Vorobyov, the Defence Ministry and Medvedev.

Sources & Further Reading

France 24 — original — by FRANCE 24
NBC News — by Nick Duffy
Fox News — by Eric Mack
The Times of India — by PRANJAL PANDEY
NPR News — by The Associated Press
New York Post — by Reuters
Arab News — by AFP

Read the original at France 24

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