Two dead in Moscow region, drones hit oil refinery in Russian capital

Two people perished in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region, while an oil refinery in Russia's capital was struck, authorities announced on Sunday. This comes on the final day of Russia's parliamentary elections. Despite a US announcement on Monday of a cease-fire, both Russia and Ukraine have continued targeting each other's energy infrastructure.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin informed his Telegram channel that the most significant Ukrainian drone attacks had been neutralized, with Russia shooting down over 1,600 drones since Saturday, including 450 aimed at Moscow. The attack on the refinery resulted in one drone hitting an apartment building, though no casualties were reported in the city. Sobyanin emphasized that the attack was aimed at disrupting the elections but failed to do so.

Witnesses reported explosions and smoke plumes from the site of the Moscow refinery, though the extent of the damage remained unclear. Russian strikes have crippled a significant portion of Russia's oil refining capacity, leading to shortages of oil products, fuel price hikes, and long queues at filling stations across the country's 11 time zones. The Moscow plant, targeted multiple times in the past, processed 11.6 million metric tons of oil in 2024, yielding 2.9 million tons of gasoline and 3.2 million tons of diesel.

Additionally, in the broader Moscow region, 400 people, including 70 children, were evacuated from a 21-story apartment block in the Ramenskoye district, and several homes sustained damage, according to Governor Andrei Vorobyov. Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in their attacks.