Largest attack on Moscow sees Ukraine fire hundreds of drones, mayor says

Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, announced that an unprecedented wave of Ukrainian drones struck the Russian capital’s outskirts overnight, with 450 unmanned aircraft intercepted by air defenses. The barrage hit the city’s main oil refinery—responsible for more than a third of the Moscow region’s fuel supply and partially feeding the Russian military—and a three‑storey residential block in Sofyino, killing a 44‑year‑old woman and an elderly man in Orekhovo‑Zuevo. Regional governor Andrei Vorobyev confirmed at least two civilian deaths and 20 injuries, while videos verified by the BBC showed explosions lighting the night sky and a burning warehouse near a major boulevard.

The attack represents the largest drone offensive Ukraine has launched against Moscow, a strategic move aimed at crippling Russia’s war‑supporting infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv targeted a “key” oil facility and a logistics site, striking assets that generate “billions of dollars” for the Russian war machine. Ukraine’s defence minister emphasized that hitting fuel, diesel and aviation supplies directly undermines the enemy’s ability to sustain its military operations. The timing coincided with Russia’s tightly controlled parliamentary elections, which Sobyanin described as an attempt to disrupt the vote on its third day, while both sides have intensified strikes on energy and transport hubs across the front lines.

The fallout extended beyond Moscow. Russian officials reported a drone‑hit bus in a Kherson‑controlled area that killed an election official, and Moscow’s two largest airports, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, imposed temporary flight restrictions that were lifted by Sunday morning, though delays persisted. Simultaneously, Ukraine suffered retaliatory strikes that killed nine civilians, including three children, in the Kyiv and Sumy regions, and a mother with two young children in Fastiv. The escalation underscores the widening tit‑for‑tat of high‑value target attacks, even as U.S. President Donald Trump signed a sanctions bill imposing tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil and gas, further tightening economic pressure on Moscow.

⚡ Effects Interpreter