Ukraine fires over 1,000 drones at Russia, including hundreds launched at Moscow

Ukrainian forces fired more than 1,000 drones at Russia overnight, including hundreds launched toward Moscow, officials said Sunday as the Kremlin was wrapping up the third and last day of its parliamentary elections.

Moscow’s mayor described the wave of drones as the “largest ever” attack on the Russian capital and said there had been damage to a Moscow oil refinery and a residential building.

Across the wider Moscow region, the attack killed two people and wounded 20, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said. The dead were a 74-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman, he said.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the attack.

The voting in Russia was the country's first wartime parliamentary election — a balloting that was virtually devoid of opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s policies and is all but certain to cement the Kremlin’s dominance.

Russia also held voting in four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed after the war began but still doesn’t fully control, and in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv has denounced the action as illegal.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that its forces shot down 1,100 Ukrainian drones across the country, as well as over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the waters of the Black Sea.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 450 drones had been destroyed en route to the Russian capital, and that the attack had damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery and a residential building.

He said the “unprecedented attack” on the capital was an attempt to disrupt the elections.

"The enemy failed in this regard," he said.

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, Ukrainian soldiers prepare an FPV drone to fire towards Russian positions in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a Ukrainian soldier prepares an FPV drone to fire towards Russian positions in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a Ukrainian soldier prepares an FPV drone to fire towards Russian positions in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, a Ukrainian soldier prepares an FPV drone to fire towards Russian positions in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ed Sheeran opened a concert Saturday with comments about Gaza after controversy swirled around his tour and supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with opener Macklemore, who was dropped after making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.

Sheeran began the concert alone on stage with no opener, but was joined by other musicians later in the show.

Sheeran said he wants his music and shows to be about unity and humanity, not politics. But he said the attacks in Israel of Oct. 7, 2023, were horrific and what is happening in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable.”

“I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” Sheeran said during his performance at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The comments before a nearly full stadium came after a tumultuous week that began with rapper Macklemore, Sheeran's original U.S. opener, being dropped in response to exclaiming “Free Palestine” during a Sept. 5 show in New Jersey.

Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision, which came at the urging of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. His company owns a stadium where Sheeran’s tour was scheduled to play on Friday.

Within hours of Sheeran’s statement Tuesday, his supporting acts withdrew.

Sheeran has performed many songs solo during his Loop Tour concerts, but was joined for several songs at each stop by the Irish folk band Beoga before they dropped out in support of Macklemore.

Macklemore was replaced by Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish singer Aaron Rowe before they backed out, and Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year before he too dropped out this week.

Before Saturday's show, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators congregated outside the stadium. Hillary Steinberg, 34, said she got concert tickets a year ago but wound up getting a refund and attended the demonstration instead, disappointed that Sheeran did not take a stand.

“I was, until this week, a big Ed Sheeran fan,” Steinberg said. “I think all art is political, and all music is political, and so this choice — even though he was saying that he wasn’t complicit — is a political choice.”

Diane Savitz, a 53-year-old from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, got tickets months ago and attended. She said she is a big Sheeran fan, doesn't think he did anything wrong and a concert is not the place for politics.

“A concert should be for people enjoying the music. Music should bring people together,” Savitz said. “Everyone has their right to freedom of speech, but not every platform is the place for it.”

Macklemore said Wednesday he is donating $1 million to support Palestinian relief efforts and called on Kraft to match the gift; a spokesperson for Kraft has said the billionaire and Sheeran have each agreed to donate $2 million but have not specified where the money will be directed. Sheeran's representatives have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Sheeran was the No. 3 top-earning concert act of the millennium so far, industry magazine Pollstar calculated in late 2025.

Sheeran has said the tour promoter was ultimately responsible for the decision to drop Macklemore.

The Grammy winner was adamant earlier this week that he wouldn't be drawn into discussion of the war in Gaza, arguing that his fans don’t come to his shows to hear about these issues.

He also said he “spoke with the venues at length all week to try to build a bridge” before Macklemore was dropped. He insisted he would never willingly let down his fans or abandon the touring crew and others who rely on him to make a living.

While promoters and venues wield great power over concert tours, experts say an artist of Sheeran's magnitude generally has the final say about what happens concerning the shows.

Sheeran told the crowd in Philadelphia that everyone is welcome at his concerts, and they can have opposing points of view while still singing his songs, which are about “love, hope and unity.”

He also told fans he worries about venues preapproving performances.

“This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world,” Sheeran said.

A previous version of this story incorrectly quoted Pollstar magazine as calculating that Sheeran was the third-highest concert earner from 2021-2025. It was from 2001-2025. It has also been edited to correct the spelling of Pollstar.

Associated Press journalist Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed.

Concert goers arrive to Lincoln Financial Field before an Ed Sheeran concert in Philadelphia, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Allie Ippolito)

Concert goers arrive to Lincoln Financial Field before an Ed Sheeran concert in Philadelphia, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Allie Ippolito)

Pro Palestinian protesters, right, march past counter protesters during a protest before an Ed Sheeran concert in Philadelphia, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Allie Ippolito)

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold signs during a "Free Palestine" protest before an Ed Sheeran concert in Philadelphia, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Allie Ippolito)

Recording artist Macklemore appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park in New York on July 22, 2022, left, and Ed Sheeran appears at the premiere of the film "F1 The Movie" in London on June 23, 2025. (AP Photo)

FILE - Ed Sheeran attends the Time100 Gala, in New York on April 24, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)