Ukraine Hits Moscow With Largest Drone Attack as Russia Votes

Ukraine carried out its largest drone attack on Moscow to date on Sunday, the final day of voting in Russia's parliamentary election, according to the city's mayor. The strikes killed two people in the Moscow region and two others in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's Kherson region, including an election official. A facility at Moscow's oil refinery, previously targeted, was also damaged.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that the attack had been repelled and described it as unprecedented and clearly aimed at disrupting the elections. "The enemy did not succeed," he said.

The State Duma vote is the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022. The ruling United Russia party is widely expected to retain its dominance in a political system that critics say does not tolerate dissent. The Kremlin is likely to present the outcome as evidence of public backing for President Vladimir Putin's policies and the war, now in its fifth year.

Election authorities said the three days of voting had proceeded smoothly despite cyberattacks reported on Saturday. Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said turnout by late morning on Sunday was over 45 percent for the Duma vote and regional elections.

Most anti-war candidates were barred from the ballot. The liberal Yabloko party, which has polled in single digits in recent years but hoped to tap into war fatigue, said it feared for its freedom after courts handed long jail terms to two senior party figures before the vote over comments about the conflict. Discrediting the army or spreading what authorities regard as fake news is punishable by lengthy prison sentences. In a small act of defiance, Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov visibly spoiled his ballot paper, writing his party's name and the slogan "For peace".

The Kremlin says national unity and some censorship are necessary during what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, casting the conflict as part of an existential struggle with a hostile West. Moscow says Ukrainian intelligence services and other enemies are stepping up efforts to stir unrest inside Russia.

Russian electoral officials said on Saturday that an online voting system in Moscow had come under cyberattack. Kyiv, which has suspended elections under martial law, has dismissed the Russian vote as a "pseudo election".

Putin on Friday accused Ukraine of trying to interfere in the election, citing what he said was a Ukrainian strike that killed an election official in her home in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on Tuesday. The details of that attack could not be independently verified and there was no comment from Kyiv.

Despite what experts see as a predictable outcome, the NEST think-tank in Berlin, co-founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, said the vote could still produce awkward moments for the Kremlin amid economic strain. It said the consequences of the war are increasingly being felt within the country, and accumulated anxiety and frustration may translate into votes for the systemic opposition parties the Kremlin has allowed to remain on the ballot. It named the Communist party and the New People party as possible beneficiaries, though both have consistently voted in line with United Russia on major issues.

In a televised address before the election, Putin told the nation the vote would underline support for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. "Your choice, and your will, will once again demonstrate that millions of people stand behind our soldiers, that we are a united people bound together by shared values, historical memory, and love for our homeland, and that no one will succeed in dividing or intimidating us," he said.

Initial results are expected to start emerging at around 1800 GMT on Sunday, with more complete results available on Monday.