The mayor of Moscow, Serguei Sobianin, reported that more than 350 drones were launched towards the Russian capital region in the early hours of this Friday (18), amid the first day of parliamentary elections in the country. According to him, most of the drones were intercepted at a distance, while 64 were destroyed while approaching Moscow.
The attack takes place amid voting for the State Duma (lower house of the Russian Parliament), which began this Friday and runs until Sunday (20). Russian authorities have been warning of possible attempts to interfere and destabilize the electoral process, in a context of continuous attacks from both sides of the conflict with Ukraine.
According to Sobianin, the drones were detected between 8pm on Thursday and 7am this Friday. The mayor did not report any material damage or victims. In a statement released by the Russian Defense Ministry, anti-aircraft defense forces said they had intercepted or destroyed 629 drones overnight in different regions of the country.
On the eve of the vote, Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov had called on citizens to participate in the elections, presenting voter turnout as a response to external pressure against the country.
“This will become our common response to those who want to weaken Russia and deprive us of the right to determine our own destiny,” Lavrov said.
The chancellor stated that voters would face an important choice for the country’s future, its development, its security and its sovereignty. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, classified the Duma election as one of the main events in Russian domestic politics this year.
The vote will define the composition of the ninth legislature of the State Duma, in an electoral process that Russian authorities have presented as part of the defense of the country’s political autonomy in the face of Western pressure. This is the first Duma election since the start of the war in Ukraine, in February 2022.
The vote takes place under the political and economic effects of the conflict, with the country suffering the consequences of the intensification of Ukrainian drone attacks, causing waves of gasoline shortages at stations around the country and inflationary processes in the economy.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
