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Agence France-Presse

Russia vowed on Sunday to “intensify” its strikes on Kyiv in response to Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow, as an exit poll showed the ruling United Russia party on course to win tightly controlled parliamentary elections.
Ukraine fired waves of drones at Moscow and the surrounding region on the final day of voting, killing two people and setting an oil refinery ablaze, officials said.
Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to “disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens” and vowed a response.
An exit poll published by a state-run pollster showed United Russia on course to win 49.4 per cent of the vote, around the same it achieved in the previous election.
“In response to the Kyiv regime’s attacks on civilian targets within Russia, the Russian army will continue and intensify its high-accuracy strikes against military targets in Kyiv,” the Russian defence ministry said.
The attack was the largest on Moscow since the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022 and involved some 1,600 drones, 450 of which were aimed directly at the capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Images showed a gaping hole in a block of flats on the outskirts of the capital, while another showed black smoke pouring from what appeared to be an oil refinery.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the attacks, saying: “Our long-range responses had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night.”
“One of Russia’s key oil industry facilities and the aggressor’s logistics facility were hit. These are billions of dollars that sustain the war machine,” he said on social media.
At least two people were killed in Sunday’s attacks – a 44-year-old woman and an elderly man – in two separate locations, Moscow regional Governor Andrey Vorobyov said.
A fire triggered by a drone crashing into a 21-storey building also led to 400 people being evacuated, Vorobyov said.
Ukraine has targeted Russian infrastructure with drones throughout the war, in retaliation for Russian bombardment of its own towns and cities.
The parliamentary vote, which decides all 450 seats in Russia’s lower house State Duma, was Russia’s first since launching its Ukraine offensive.
An exit poll by the state-owned Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) showed United Russia winning 49.4 per cent, while the Communist Party and nationalist LDPR party on 14.2 per cent and 10.7 per cent respectively.

All parties contesting supported the war and Putin, and the exit poll did not include electronic voting and military ballots.
“For that reason I believe United Russia’s result will be higher, whilst that of the opposition parties will be lower,” VCIOM director Valery Fedorov said.
Yabloko – a liberal party that had called for an end to the fighting – was barred from running its federal list by Russia’s Supreme Court, although its candidates remained on the ballot in some single-mandate constituencies.
Putin had urged Russians to take part, casting the vote as a show of support for Moscow’s troops and an “answer to those who want to weaken Russia”.
The Kremlin’s chief political opponents have been driven into exile, while Putin’s main rival, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison in 2024.
Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya called on anti-war Russians to collectively cast their ballots at noon on Sunday, a tactic that drew crowds in the 2024 presidential election.
In Berlin and London, Agence France-Presse reporters saw dozens of opposition supporters gathered outside Russian embassy buildings in protest at the vote.

Russia’s electoral chief said there had been a wave of cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure.
Ella Pamfilova, chairwoman of Russia’s Central Election Commission, did not say who was responsible.
The attacks appeared to have been carried out by “highly professional, well-coordinated groups using artificial intelligence tools”, she said.
“Over the past period, more than 1,000 waves of DDoS attacks have been recorded against infrastructure in Russia that is specifically involved in the electoral process,” Pamfilova was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks involve overwhelming a system with internet traffic so that it is unable to function normally.
She warned on Saturday that saboteurs had also severed communication lines in Russia’s far east, in an apparent attempt to frustrate the voting.


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Flames and smoke rise from Moscow’s oil refinery in the south east of the city following a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. Photo: UGC via AP

A woman casts her ballot during voting at a polling station in Podolsk, Moscow region, Russia on Sunday. Photo: EPA

Men stand in the courtyard of a damaged block of flats hit by what authorities described as a Ukrainian drone strike, in Kotelniki, Moscow region, Russia on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

A protester holds a placard with an image of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and an old pre-Revolution Iran flag, as people gather at the entrance to the street leading to the Russian embassy in central London on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Ukraine pummels Moscow with drones on last day of Russian election

Plumes of smoke rise from fires at an oil refinery following a Ukrainian drone strike in Moscow on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Yabloko party leader Nikolai Rybakov casts a ballot with a writing in Russian reading “For peace” during the parliamentary election in St Petersburg on Sunday. Photo: AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin casts his ballot online in the parliamentary election on Friday. Photo: Kremlin/dpa

Russians begin voting in parliamentary election in shadow of war

Cadets cast their ballots in Vladivostok on the first day of voting. Photo: Reuters

A woman casts her ballot in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Strikes on Russian oil refineries sparked a severe fuel crisis that peaked in June. Photo: AP

Ukraine says ready for ‘de-escalatory steps’ if Russia does same

epa13178801 Cars line up at a Gazprom Neft gas station in Moscow, Russia, 19 August 2026. Sales limitations on fuel at some gas stations come as a result of repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.  EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Motorists queue for fuel at a Moscow petrol station in August as rationing measures follow Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries. Photo: EPA

A Kyiv petrol station hit by a Russian drone strike. Photo: Reuters

Smoke and flames rise during a Russian drone strike on a passenger train in Rymachi, Volyn region, Ukraine. Photo: Mediapivden/Telegram via Reuters

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Smoke rises in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine,  on Thursday following a Russian attack. Photo: EPA

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump pose for a photo in Washington in July. Photo: Handout via Ukrainian Press Service/AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin waves before boarding a plane in India on Sunday. Photo: via Kremlin

Poland and Ukraine denounce train strike on route used by foreign dignitaries

A locomotive damaged in a Russian drone attack at Yahodyn railway station near Ukraine’s border with Poland. Photo: Ukrainian Ukrzaliznytsia Railway Company via AP

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson visiting Kyiv in 2025. Photo: Ritzau Scanpix/Bo Amstrup via Reuters

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Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to ‘disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens’ after drone strikes on Moscow


Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to ‘disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens’ after drone strikes on Moscow.


Russia vows revenge for Ukraine’s election-day attacks as poll shows win for ruling party

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to ‘disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens’ after drone strikes on Moscow

Russia’s defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to ‘disrupt the democratic will of Russian citizens’ after drone strikes on Moscow