WATCH: The moment Ukraine launched its ‘largest ever’ drone attack on Russia
While the entire Europe continues to remain on edge over a possible escalation by Russians, Ukraine on Sunday launched its “largest ever” drone attack on Russia, while the country was preparing to wrap up its parliamentary elections.
Russian authorities described the attack as “unprecedented” and said the over 1,600 drones were intercepted by the military, of which 450 were aimed at Moscow. Despite their efforts, two people — a 74-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman — were killed in the drone attack in two separate areas in the capital.
“The unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not succeed,” Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a statement on Telegram.
Zelenskyy shares video
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared a video on micro-blogging platform X (previously Twitter) and said the drone strikes were aimed at Russia’s key oil industry and logistics facilities.
In his post, he also thanked Ukrainian forces for the ‘accuracy’ of the attack.
“Our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night,” he said. “These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine. The systems used included FP-1, RZ-100, MICH-2000, Palianytsia, Vendetta, Liutyi, Bars, Flamingo, Sichen, and Pelican.”
“Sanctions were also imposed on a facility in the Voronezh region. Moscow must end its brutal war and choose peace instead of building layered rings of air defense at the expense of other regions. Steps toward de-escalation are on the table – in energy and food security. What is needed is political will,” he added.
The Russian elections
The attacks comes at a time when parliamentary election are being held in Russia. These are the first elections that are being held since the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.
Only parties that support Putin and the Kremlin’s military campaign have been registered to run. Moscow has also organised voting in occupied Ukraine. While few Russians doubt Putin’s United Russia party will cruise to victory again, the vote offers a gauge of public support for the war.
The attacks come at a time when Kyiv stepped up its long-range drone strike campaign against Russia in recent months, particularly against energy infrastructure to target a vital source of the Kremlin’s revenue to fund its war effort, now in its fifth year.
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