Moscow drone attack kills two as Russia votes and Zelensky plans Trump talks
Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Moscow, killing two and damaging an oil refinery, as Russia held the final day of parliamentary elections and Zelensky agreed to meet Trump.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Ukraine launched a large-scale overnight drone and missile attack on Moscow and the surrounding region, according to Russian and Ukrainian accounts. Moscow's mayor called it the largest attack on the Russian capital so far. Russian authorities said at least two people were killed, including a woman and an elderly man, and at least six others were injured. About 400 residents were evacuated from their homes. Two of Moscow's four airports suspended operations.
An oil refinery in the Moscow region was hit and set on fire. It is the capital's biggest refinery, about 10 miles from the Kremlin, and supplies a third of the region's fuel. Ukraine says it also supports the Russian military. Video posted online appeared to show the facility ablaze, with large plumes of smoke over the Moscow skyline. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Kyiv had hit a key Russian oil facility and a logistics site in the region. He said the targets represented billions of dollars that sustained the war machine, and Ukrainian officials said the aim was to bring the war home to Russia.
Russian officials gave varying accounts of the air defence response. The Moscow mayor said 450 drones had been downed on the way to the capital, and that more than 1,600 drones had been brought down across Russia since Saturday. One Russian account said 186 drones were brought down in Moscow and another 250 in the region. Ukrainian and Russian sources described the attack as involving hundreds or more than 1,000 drones, making it the largest on Moscow in the war so far.
The timing coincided with the final day of Russia's parliamentary elections, the first such vote since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Only pro-Kremlin parties were allowed to stand. The anti-war Yabloko party had been removed from the ballot, and critics said the vote was neither free nor fair. The Kremlin-backed United Russia party was on track to win comfortably. Russian officials accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt the vote. The election was tightly controlled, and the result was widely seen as a way for President Vladimir Putin to claim public support for the war. There were also reports of problems with polling infrastructure. A reported cyber attack left some voters unable to get paper ballots, and people were urged to vote online. Nikolai Rybakov, the leader of Yabloko, spoiled his ballot with messages calling for a ceasefire and peace.
Both sides continued to strike infrastructure and civilian areas. Ukrainian officials said eight people, including three children, were killed in Russian attacks in the Kyiv and Sumy regions on Saturday. In Kramatorsk, a strike hit a centre housing people evacuated from the front line. Near Kyiv, a warehouse was set alight after a Russian drone strike, and the capital came under further Russian drone attack. Both sides deny targeting civilians, but with attacks on this scale, more casualties are likely.
Diplomatic activity also continued. Zelensky said he and US President Donald Trump had agreed to meet in New York at the United Nations General Assembly after a phone call on Sunday. Zelensky said he was working with the Americans on serious steps for de-escalation and believed there was diplomatic momentum. The UK said it had struck a deal to deliver 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year. The defence secretary would not be drawn on whether any of those drones were used in the attack on Moscow.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC News | BBC One | Channel 4 | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overnight drone strikes on Moscow killed at least two people. | |||||
| The attacks hit a key Russian oil facility and a logistics site. | |||||
| The drone attack on Moscow was described as the largest ever, with over 1,000 drones launched and hundreds downed. | |||||
| Russian authorities claimed that large numbers of drones had been repelled or shot down in recent attacks. | · | · | |||
| Russian officials said the attack was an attempt to disrupt the parliamentary elections. | · | · | |||
| The Supreme Court barred the anti-war party Yabloko from the ballot. | · | · | · | ||
| Zelensky announced he would meet Donald Trump in New York and said there was diplomatic momentum towards ending the war. | · | · | · | ||
| Nikolai Rybakov, leader of the banned anti-war Yabloko party, spoiled his ballot to call for a ceasefire and peace. | · | · | · | · | |
| Reports said residential buildings near the refinery were hit, with three people reported killed. | · | · | · | · | |
| Russian attacks in Ukraine killed eight people, including three children, in the Kyiv and Sumy regions on Saturday. | · | · | · | · | |
| Russian authorities reported shooting down 186 drones over Moscow and 250 more in the wider region. | · | · | · | · | |
| The election is tightly controlled by the Kremlin. | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky focused on the scale of the attack and the political timing. Its correspondents stressed that the strike was the biggest on Moscow so far, that it coincided with the final day of parliamentary voting, and that it was meant to embarrass Vladimir Putin and remind Russians what they were voting for.
- “Hundreds of drones have struck Moscow and the surrounding region overnight killing at least two people.”
- “This was an unprecedented attack on the Russian capital. The biggest ever, according to the city's mayor.”
- “it's an attempt to embarrass Putin and to remind Russians of what they're voting for”
BBC News gave a broad account that tied the drone attack to Russia's tightly controlled parliamentary election and to Ukrainian diplomacy. It also carried detailed analysis of Russian public mood, claims about cyber problems at polling stations, and the Zelensky-Trump phone call.
- “Ukraine has carried out large-scale drone attacks on Moscow and its surrounding region.”
- “The capital's mayor called it the largest such attack on Moscow yet, adding that 450 drones had been directed at the city since Saturday.”
- “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Kyiv had hit a key Russian oil facility and a logistics site in the region.”
BBC ONE West led with official casualty figures and Zelensky's confirmation of the targets, then turned to the election and the muted reaction in Moscow. Its Moscow coverage emphasised resignation among voters and the Kremlin's use of the vote to claim support for the war.
- “Authorities in Moscow say at least two people have been killed and six injured in a massive overnight Ukrainian drone attack on the city.”
- “The targets, he said, represented billions of dollars that sustained the war machine.”
- “No sense of surprise here, more a kind of quiet resignation.”
ITV1 highlighted the damage to a refinery that supplies a large share of the region's fuel and the political backdrop of Russia's parliamentary vote. It also brought in the UK's drone supply deal for Ukraine and the defence secretary's refusal to say whether any were used against Moscow.
- “Authorities in Russia say Ukraine has launched its largest ever drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region overnight.”
- “They struck a key oil facility, which supplies a third of the region's fuel and, according to Kyiv, sustains the Russian war machine.”
- “The UK struck a deal to deliver 120,000 drones to Ukraine this year.”
Channel 4 framed the attack as part of a war of attrition and focused on the refinery, petrol shortages, and the exclusion of anti-war opposition. Its report gave unusual space to Yabloko figures and the human cost on both sides.
- “Hundreds of Ukrainian long-range drones and cruise missiles targeted the main oil refinery in Moscow overnight, as well as logistics facilities Ukraine said were supporting Russia's war effort.”
- “Residential buildings near the refinery were also hit, and three people were reported killed.”
- “This is Nikolai Rybakov, the leader of the anti-war Yabloko party, which the Supreme Court banned from this election at the last minute.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.