2 killed in massive Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow Oblast

MOSCOW, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and five others, including two children, were wounded in a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow Oblast overnight, Moscow Oblast Governor Andrey Vorobyov said Sunday.

"During the night, the Moscow Oblast came under a massive drone attack. From 03:00 to 05:00, air defense forces and electronic warfare assets shot down and suppressed 249 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across 17 districts. The attack continues," Vorobyov said on the social platform Max.

According to the governor, a Ukrainian UAV struck an apartment building in the village of Sofyino, killing one person and injuring five others, including two children. A drone also damaged a warehouse complex in this settlement.

"The children have been hospitalized and are receiving all necessary medical care," Vorobyov added.

Separately, a drone crash caused a fire on the roof of a 21-story apartment building in the Ramenskoye district. A total of 400 people, including 70 children, were evacuated. Twenty vehicles were damaged. No injuries have been reported.

"Another person died in the Orekhovo-Zuyevo district -- an elderly man was in a private house that was destroyed and caught fire as a result of the attack," Vorobyov said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Sunday on Max that more than 1,600 UAVs have been shot down across the Moscow region since Saturday, including 450 approaching Moscow. He said several drones reached the Moscow Oil Refinery, and one struck a residential building, but there were no fatalities.

Sobyanin said the unprecedented attack was aimed at disrupting the ongoing State Duma elections but it had failed to do so.

Residential buildings were also damaged in other municipalities of the Moscow Oblast.