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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Moscow and the Moscow region faced a massive drone attack in the night from 20 September, during which, according to Russian authorities, more than 1600 drones were shot down or suppressed at various frontlines, and about 450 — on approach to the capital of the Russian Federation. Some drones reached the Moscow oil refinery, another aircraft hit a residential building in Moscow, reported the Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin.
According to Sobyanin, the attack was the largest in terms of the number of drones attempting to approach Moscow. He said that from the evening of 19 September and during the night, air defense forces destroyed and suppressed drones at various frontlines. Of the total number of more than 1600 devices, about 450, according to him, were shot down specifically on the approach to the capital. Sobyanin reported that several drones reached the territory of the Moscow Refinery in the Kapotnya district. According to Reuters, explosions and smoke were recorded at the facility, though the scale of damage as of Sunday morning remained unclear. Russian authorities reported damage to the plant facility on its territory, without providing detailed information about production consequences. Another drone, according to the Moscow mayor, hit a residential building. In the capital itself, there were no reported deaths from this episode. At the same time, the attack caused consequences in the Moscow region, where, according to Russian authorities, two people died. The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, reported an attack in 17 municipal districts of the region. According to him, the most significant consequences were recorded in Ramensky District: after a drone fell, the roof of a 21-story residential building on the Northern Highway caught fire. About 400 people were evacuated, among them 70 children, and 20 cars were damaged. Russian regional services also reported damage to residential buildings and other facilities in the Moscow region. According to Vorobyov, emergency services worked in Ramensky District to address the aftermath of drone crashes and to assist evacuated residents. Separately, Russian and Ukrainian information resources reported a possible strike on a large warehouse or logistics complex in the settlement of Sofino in Ramensky District. These reports were not confirmed by official data about a specific object, so information about damage to the logistics complex remains unconfirmed.
Against the backdrop of the attack, aviation restrictions were imposed in the Moscow region. Operations at Moscow airports, including Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky, were temporarily limited. The restrictions affected flight schedules, with some flights canceled or postponed. Sobyanin linked the attack to the last day of elections for the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Voting in Russia takes place from 18 to 20 September, and 20 September is the third and final day of the elections. The Moscow mayor stated that the massive strike was allegedly planned to disrupt voting. “An unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections,” he wrote, adding that in his view this aim was not achieved. Russian authorities had previously stated cyberattacks on remote electronic voting systems and communications infrastructure during the elections. Government representatives linked these incidents to Ukraine, but Reuters noted that evidence of Ukrainian involvement in the cyberattacks had not been provided by Russian officials. The State Duma elections are taking place for the first time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The voting lasts three days, and more than 111 million voters have the right to participate. The elections are also being held in territories of Ukraine that Russia has declared annexed, which Kyiv and the European Union do not recognize. Ukrainian authorities did not claim responsibility for the attack on Moscow and the Moscow region. Reuters reported that Kyiv did not comment on the strikes. Russian officials meanwhile continue to describe the attack as an attempt to influence the elections. The massive strike comes amid further attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine. Reuters notes that strikes on Russian oil refineries have already affected oil processing volumes, which affected the domestic fuel market in Russia. The consequences of the new damage to the Moscow Refinery as of the morning of 20 September were not officially disclosed.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Понад 1600 дронів атакували Москву та область". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Fraza.
