Ukraine Hits Moscow With 350 Drones as Russia Votes — SkimNews
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- Ukraine fired more than 350 drones at Moscow on Friday morning, coinciding with Russia opening polls for its first parliamentary election since the start of the war.
- Russia's State Duma election covers 450 seats across 11 time zones, with Kamchatka and Chukotka voting first; only pro-war parties are registered after Yabloko was barred from the ballot in August.
- United Russia is certain to win the most seats, but the margin and rival parties' tallies are being closely watched as a barometer of public support or frustration with a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands since February 2022.
- Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 64 of the 350 drones were shot down approaching the capital, while President Zelenskyy reported strikes on the Yaroslavl oil refinery and a Rostov military airfield that damaged military aircraft and helicopters.
- Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck a Nova Poshta logistics hub near Odesa and a cargo vessel in the port of Chornomorsk for military purposes; a separate Russian drone attack injured five people, including three children, in the Kyiv region.
- Voting runs until 18:00 GMT on Sunday with protests banned and no antiwar candidates standing; the Kremlin also organized balloting in occupied parts of Ukraine.
Why it matters: With protests banned, opposition barred, and only pro-war parties on the ballot, United Russia's victory is a foregone conclusion — but the margin and turnout serve as the Kremlin's legitimacy gauge for an invasion that has killed hundreds of thousands since February 2022. Ukraine's concurrent 350-drone barrage, which has caused billions of rubles in damage to Russian infrastructure, lets Kyiv ensure Russian voters feel the war regardless of how the scripted ballot unfolds.
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