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MOSCOW \u2013 Ukraine launched what Moscow\u2019s mayor called the biggest drone attack yet on the Russian capital on Sunday, as Russians voted \u200bon the final day of a parliamentary election that President Vladimir Putin has cast as a test of support for the war in Ukraine.<\/strong><\/p>\n The drone strikes \u200ckilled two people in the Moscow region and two more in the Russian-held part of Ukraine\u2019s Kherson region, including an election official, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and election authorities. A facility at Moscow\u2019s oil refinery, which has been targeted before, was also damaged.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest attack by enemy drones has been repelled,\u201d Sobyanin said on Telegram. \u201cThis unprecedented attack was clearly planned with the aim of disrupting the elections. The enemy did not \u200bsucceed.\u201d<\/p>\n The State Duma vote, the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, is expected to see the ruling United Russia party \u200beasily retain its dominance in a political system critics say does not tolerate dissent.<\/p>\n The Kremlin is likely to present the outcome as \u2060evidence of public backing for Putin\u2019s policies and for the war, now in its fifth year with no sign of ending soon.<\/p>\n The election authorities say the three days \u200bof voting have proceeded smoothly despite cyberattacks reported on Saturday. Turnout was at over 50% by early afternoon Moscow time, Interfax news agency reported, citing the Central Election Commission.<\/p>\n Most anti-war candidates have \u200bbeen barred from the ballot. Those who did run from the liberal Yabloko party, which has polled in the single digits in recent years but hoped to tap into war fatigue, said they feared for their freedom after courts handed long jail terms to two senior party figures before the vote for comments about the conflict.<\/p>\n Discrediting the army or spreading what authorities regard as fake news is punishable \u200bby lengthy prison sentences.<\/p>\n In a small act of defiance, Yabloko\u2019s leader, Nikolai Rybakov, demonstrably spoiled his ballot paper, writing his party\u2019s name and the slogan \u201cFor peace\u201d.<\/p>\n The Kremlin says \u200bnational unity and some censorship are necessary during what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine. It casts the conflict \u2013 Europe\u2019s deadliest since World War Two \u2013 as part of an existential struggle \u200cwith a \u2060hostile West. Moscow says Ukrainian intelligence services and other enemies are stepping up efforts to stir unrest inside Russia.<\/p>\n PERMITTED OPPOSITION PARTIES COULD BENEFIT<\/strong><\/p>\n Russian electoral officials said on Saturday that an online voting system in Moscow had come under cyberattack. Kyiv, which has suspended elections under martial law, has dismissed the Russian vote as a \u201cpseudo election\u201d.<\/p>\n Putin on Friday also accused Ukraine of trying to interfere in the election, citing what he said was a Ukrainian strike that killed an election official in her home in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine\u2019s Zaporizhzhia region \u200bon Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify \u200bdetails of the attack and there \u2060was no comment from Kyiv.<\/p>\n Despite what experts see as the election\u2019s predictable outcome, the NEST think-tank in Berlin, co-founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whom Russian authorities have designated \u201ca foreign agent\u201d, said the vote could still produce awkward moments for the Kremlin at a \u200btime of economic strain.<\/p>\n \u201cThe consequences of the war are increasingly being felt within the country, and accumulated anxiety and frustration may translate into \u200bvotes for the systemic \u2060opposition parties that the Kremlin has allowed to remain on the ballot,\u201d it said in a note.<\/p>\n It said the Communist party and the New People party could attract votes the authorities would prefer to go to United Russia. Both parties have consistently voted in line with United Russia on major issues.<\/p>\n Putin told the nation in a televised address before the election that the \u2060vote would underline \u200bsupport for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cYour choice, and your will, will once again demonstrate that millions \u200bof people stand behind our soldiers, that we are a united people bound together by shared values, historical memory, and love for our homeland, and that no one will succeed in dividing or intimidating us,\u201d said \u200bPutin.<\/p>\n Initial results are expected to start emerging at around 1800 GMT on Sunday, with more complete results available on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n