DOMINANT ANGLE
New Delhi views the strike on the Moscow refinery more as an additional risk factor for its own Russian crude purchases, under the US threat of a 100 percent tariff.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
United Russia gathers 57.5% of the votes based on the partial results from the Central Election Commission, with a turnout of 56.66%
- 02
Ukraine launched over 1,000 drones at Russia on Sunday, with around 450 intercepted while approaching Moscow according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, hitting a Moscow refinery
- 03
The Times of India links the attack on Russian oil infrastructure to the sanctions law signed by Donald Trump and the risk of a 100% tariff targeting buyers of Russian crude, including India
ANALYSIS
New Delhi, September 21, 2026. Indian newspapers are reporting side by side the two news stories from Sunday, September 20, 2026: the landslide victory of the United Russia party, which supports Vladimir Putin, in the elections to the State Duma, and the largest drone attack ever launched by Ukraine against Moscow. But their reading is distinguished by a thread they draw to New Delhi itself: the fate of Indian imports of Russian oil, now under threat of a 100% American tariff.
According to the Central Electoral Commission, United Russia garnered 57.5% of the vote in the partial results of the election, the first since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with a turnout of 56.66%. The only registered anti-war party, Yabloko, was excluded after a decision by the Russian Supreme Court last month. The vote was also held in the annexed territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, as well as in Crimea.
On the same day, Ukraine launched over 1,000 drones against Russia, including hundreds towards Moscow. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the attack as "unprecedented", stating that 450 drones had been destroyed near the capital. A Moscow refinery and a residential building were hit; regional governor Andrey Vorobyov reported two deaths and twenty injuries. The Russian Ministry of Defense claims 1,100 drones were shot down, including over annexed Crimea. Volodymyr Zelensky assumed responsibility for targeting Russian oil and logistics sites, writing on X: "These are billions of dollars that fuel the war machine", referring to the use of Flamingo and Pelican missiles developed in Ukraine.
It is this targeting of refineries that the Indian press is linking to its own dossier: an article in the Times of India directly references the Russian sanctions law signed by Donald Trump and the question of whether India, the largest buyer of discounted Russian crude, will itself face a 100% tariff. The attack on Russia's energy supply is thus read less as a military episode than as an additional factor of tension on refining margins and the prices India pays for its imported oil.
