Drone attack hits Moscow as Russia holds final day of parliamentary voting

Moscow, Russia. Ukraine launched what Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described as the largest drone attack yet on the Russian capital on Sunday, as Russians voted on the final day of parliamentary elections presented by President Vladimir Putin as a test of support for the war in Ukraine.

The strikes killed two people in the Moscow region and another two in the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, including an election official, according to Moscow authorities and election officials. A facility at Moscow’s oil refinery was also damaged.

Drone attack and election security

Sobyanin said on Telegram that the attack had been repelled and accused Ukraine of seeking to disrupt the elections.

“The biggest attack by enemy drones has been repelled,” Sobyanin said. “This unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed.”

Election authorities said the three days of voting had proceeded smoothly despite cyberattacks reported on Saturday.

Voting and turnout

The State Duma vote is the first held since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022. The ruling United Russia party is expected to retain its dominance in a political system that critics say does not tolerate dissent.

The Kremlin is likely to present the result as evidence of public support for Putin’s policies and the war, now in its fifth year with no sign of ending soon.

Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said turnout by late Sunday morning exceeded 45 per cent in the Duma vote and regional elections.

Opposition candidates

Most anti-war candidates were barred from the ballot. Candidates from the liberal Yabloko party who did run said they feared for their freedom after courts imposed lengthy prison terms on two senior party figures before the vote over comments about the conflict.

Discrediting the army or spreading information authorities consider false is punishable by lengthy prison sentences.

In an act of defiance, Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov spoiled his ballot paper by writing his party’s name and the slogan “For peace”.

Kremlin position

The Kremlin says national unity and some censorship are necessary during what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

Moscow portrays the conflict, Europe’s deadliest since World War Two, as part of an existential struggle with a hostile West. It says Ukrainian intelligence services and other enemies are increasing efforts to stir unrest inside Russia.