Ukrainian drones strike an oil refinery in the Moscow region; two people killed

The Russian authorities have reported that Moscow and the surrounding region were targeted by hundreds of drones in the early hours of the day, causing at least two deaths and damage to a major oil refinery. The governor of the region surrounding the capital, Andrei Vorobiov, reported that 249 drones were shot down, causing damage in several residential areas.

“The attack is continuing,” he added on Telegram. In total, two people have died: a 44-year-old woman and an elderly man. In a third affected area, 400 people were evacuated due to a fire caused by a drone crashing into a building. In a series of messages posted on Telegram overnight, Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, reported that at least 186 drones had been shot down by Russian air defences. He did not specify the origin of the attacks. ‘A facility within the Moscow oil refinery complex has been damaged,’ added Sobyanin, noting that no casualties were immediately reported. This major refinery has already been targeted by Ukrainian attacks in recent months.

The Mayor of Moscow has accused Ukraine of launching, in the last few hours, an “unprecedented” attack involving over 1,600 drones heading towards Russia, with the aim – according to him – of “disrupting” the parliamentary elections. According to Sergei Sobyanin, since yesterday Russian air defences have shot down more than 1,600 drones, of which “450 were heading towards Moscow”. “This unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed,” he stated on Telegram, as Russians vote on Sunday on the third and final day of the first parliamentary elections since the start of Russia’s large-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.

During last night’s air strikes on Moscow, Ukrainian forces also used Flamingo cruise missiles and the new Pelican (FP7) ballistic missiles, according to a statement by President Volodymyr Zelensky on his Telegram channel. ‘In the Moscow region tonight, our long-range strikes were particularly effective,’ writes Zelensky. ‘One of the Russian oil industry’s main facilities and a key logistics hub belonging to the aggressor were hit. These are the billions of dollars that sustain the war machine.’