Two civilians killed as Ukrainian drones strike homes near Moscow
Two civilians have been killed and several others injured, including two children, in a massive Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow Region, Governor Andrey Vorobyov has said.
Russian air defenses and electronic warfare systems intercepted or suppressed 249 UAVs across 17 municipalities between 3am and 5am on Sunday, according to the governor. The attack was still ongoing as of early Sunday morning.
The massive raid struck Moscow and its surrounding region just hours before polling stations were due to open for the final day of Russia’s three-day parliamentary elections. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that while the Ukrainian leadership was in no hurry to hold elections at home, it was also “trying to interfere” with voting in Russia. His remarks followed a Ukrainian strike that killed the head of a local election commission in Zaporozhye Region.
The worst damage was reported in the Ramenskoye district, where a 44-year-old woman was killed and five others, including two children, were injured when a drone hit an apartment building in the village of Sofyino, Vorobyov said.
In the nearby city of Ramenskoye, around 400 residents, including 70 children, were evacuated from a 21-story apartment block after falling drone debris sparked a fire on its roof, with 20 vehicles also damaged.
Another person was killed in the Orekhovo-Zuyevo district, where a private home was destroyed and caught fire during the attack. The victim was an elderly man who had been inside the building, according to the governor.
The raid extended into Moscow itself, where a facility at the Moscow Oil Refinery was damaged, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said. There were no casualties, and emergency services were working at the site.
Elsewhere in Moscow Region, a warehouse complex caught fire in Sofyino, while a drone struck an apartment building in Kotelniki, setting apartments on three floors ablaze. Authorities were still determining whether anyone had been injured there.
Private homes were also damaged in Kolomna and Yegoryevsk, while fires broke out at apartment buildings in the Leninsky district, Lyubertsy and Lytkarino. A residential building and an industrial facility were damaged in Istra, with no casualties reported.
Moscow has accused Kiev of undermining diplomatic efforts while publicly calling for renewed negotiations. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian leadership was “talking about peace” while doing “everything” to prevent peace and negotiations.
Earlier this month, Putin ordered large-scale retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in response to Kiev’s attacks inside Russia. Moscow has condemned strikes on civilians as acts of terrorism, while maintaining that its own forces target military and defense-related facilities.
