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Ukrainian drones hit a Moscow oil refinery as Russia reports 1,110 downed overnight
September 21, 2026
Russia's Defense Ministry says it downed 1,110 Ukrainian drones overnight, and the governor of the Moscow region counts two dead and 20 wounded as parliamentary voting ends.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no sign of ending the invasion of Ukraine, and Kyiv sends long-range drones at targets deep inside Russia to bring the war's cost home to Russians.
Key facts
- Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, posted on Telegram that 450 Ukrainian drones flying toward the capital were downed between Saturday night and Sunday morning, and he called the attack “unprecedented.”
- Fire Point, a Ukrainian manufacturer whose products include munitions as well as long-range drones and missiles, said on Telegram that its FP-1 drones were among those that hit the Moscow Oil Refinery.
- By ABC News's count of the ministry's Telegram statements, the 1,110 Ukrainian drones Russia's Defense Ministry said it downed overnight are the most it has ever announced for a single night.
- Andrei Vorobyov, the Moscow region's governor, said two people died and 20 were wounded in the attack across the wider region.
- A “major incident is occurring” at the refinery, Andriy Kovalenko posted on Telegram, and he said the plant “supplies fuel to their capital city.” Kovalenko runs the Counter-Disinformation Center, a body inside Kyiv's National Security and Defense Council.
ABC News reports that Russia's Defense Ministry counted 1,110 Ukrainian drones downed overnight, the largest one-night total the ministry has announced by ABC News's review of its Telegram statements. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin put the number stopped on the way to the capital between Saturday night and Sunday morning at 450. “Several drones did reach the territory of the Moscow Oil Refinery, and one hit a residential building. There were no fatalities,” Sobyanin wrote. PBS reports that Governor Andrei Vorobyov counts two dead and 20 wounded across the wider Moscow region, and NPR, Fox News and the Los Angeles Times carry the same toll. The Los Angeles Times puts the barrage at more than 1,000 drones and ties it to election day, and ABC News reports that Rosaviatsiya, Russia's federal air transport agency, placed temporary flight restrictions on every international airport serving Moscow.
ABC News carries Ukrainian claims on the target and the weapon. Fire Point, a Ukrainian arms maker, said on Telegram its FP-1 drones hit the Moscow Oil Refinery, a Gazprom plant southeast of the city, and Andriy Kovalenko, who heads the Counter-Disinformation Center at Kyiv's security council, wrote of a “major incident” at a site he said “supplies fuel to their capital city.” The Guardian reports images of a torn-open apartment block on Moscow's outskirts and black smoke over what looked like a refinery. PBS reports that Kyiv wants the Russian public to bear the cost of the war and to push President Vladimir Putin toward a peace settlement, and that Putin has shown no sign of halting the invasion. The Guardian reports that Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump spoke on Sunday and settled on a meeting in New York, for talks Zelenskyy said “could change a lot” in ending the war. It also carries warnings from European intelligence officials and from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk of a possible Russian drone or missile strike on NATO territory within months. Fox News frames the strikes around whether Ukraine's campaign against Russian energy sites is working.
The strikes fall on the last day of voting in Russia's parliamentary elections. Sobyanin said the attack was “clearly planned to disrupt” the vote, and NPR carries his charge that the attack was an attempt to upset the voting. PBS and The Guardian report a statement from Russia's Central Election Commission that Ukrainian fire killed a local electoral committee member in the Russian-held part of the Kherson region. The Guardian reports the balloting also took in residents of Crimea and of four Ukrainian regions Moscow annexed after the war began, a vote Kyiv calls illegal and the European Union calls a “blatant violation of international law.” The size of the barrage, the drones reaching the refinery and the deaths in the Moscow region are corroborated across ABC News, NPR, PBS and Fox News. The accounts diverge only on the words for Russia's hold on the occupied territories. One says Moscow illegally annexed the four regions and Crimea, and another says Moscow claimed the regions and Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, so with the same places and the same year in both, the split is over whether the wording calls Russia's control illegal.
“Several drones did reach the territory of the Moscow Oil Refinery, and one hit a residential building. There were no fatalities,” Sobyanin wrote, and he cast the attack as “clearly planned to disrupt” the Russian parliamentary vote, which closes on Sunday.
Sobyanin
Still developing
The toll in the Moscow region and the damage at the Moscow Oil Refinery are still forming.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- abcnews.com — Ukrainian drones and missiles target Moscow, oil refinery in deadly attack: Officials
- npr.org — Ukraine fires over 1,000 drones at Russia, including hundreds launched at Moscow
- PBS — Ukraine fires over 1,000 drones at Russia, including 'largest ever' attack on Moscow
- The Guardian — Ukraine war briefing: Russia to ‘intensify’ attacks on Kyiv after Moscow hit with mass drone strikes
- Fox News — Ukraine targets Russia with over 1,000 drones, killing 2 as Moscow holds last day of elections - Fox News
Toggle read the full reports of 6 of the 7 outlets counted on this event. The other 1 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.