Ukraine Targets Moscow With 450 Drones, Killing 2 and Damaging Refinery on Election Day
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 20
Ukraine Targets Moscow With 450 Drones, Killing 2 and Damaging Refinery on Election Day
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 20
Summary
At least 2 people were killed and a major Moscow refinery was damaged as hundreds of drones struck the capital region on the final day of Russia’s parliamentary election.
More than 1,600 drones were intercepted nationwide, including 450 aimed at Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, calling it an attempt to disrupt the tightly controlled three-day vote.
A drone-triggered fire at a 21-storey residential building forced 400 evacuations, while the refinery attack hit energy infrastructure that Kyiv has increasingly targeted in recent months.
Those strikes have already knocked out a significant share of Russia’s refining capacity, contributing to fuel shortages, higher prices and long queues at filling stations across the country.
The attack came days after Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed not to target each other’s energy facilities, and as voting continued in occupied parts of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s June 18, 2026 Drone Strike on Moscow: Anatomy, Motives, and the Economic and Political Shockwaves Reshaping the Russia-Ukraine War
Overview
In June 2026, after years of relentless Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid and a deadly strike on Kyiv’s Lavra monastery, Ukraine shifted to a strategy of proportional retaliation and economic warfare. Launching its largest drone assault on Moscow, Ukraine used advanced long-range drones and saturation tactics to overwhelm Russian air defenses, successfully striking the vital Kapotnya oil refinery. The resulting fires and disruptions triggered panic in Moscow, forced airport closures, and exposed the public to the war’s realities. Cumulative strikes soon disabled nearly half of Russia’s oil refining capacity, causing severe fuel shortages, price hikes, and a deepening economic crisis across the country.