Russia strikes Kyiv with ballistic missiles as Ukraine drones hit Moscow refinery again and G7 pledges air defence licences

Overnight exchanges

Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv early on Thursday, the second such attack this week, as Ukrainian drones hit the Moscow oil refinery for the second time in a few days. Air raid sirens sounded across most of Ukraine, and explosions were reported in Kyiv, Sumy, Poltava, and Zaporizhzhia. One person was killed in a drone attack in Sumy, and the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, warned residents to stay in shelters.

In Moscow, thick smoke and flames were seen over the Kapotnya district, home to the refinery. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences downed over four dozen drones, though several reached the facility. A shopping centre on the city’s outskirts sustained minor damage from falling debris, and a high-rise residential building, an industrial facility, and private houses in the surrounding region were also damaged. Sheremetyevo airport suspended flights temporarily before restrictions were lifted.

Air defence forces continue to repel a massive attack. Several drones managed to reach the Moscow oil refinery.

The refinery had already halted operations after a Ukrainian drone strike on Tuesday, deepening a fuel crisis inside Russia. Industry sources told Reuters that Russia, the world’s third-largest oil producer, plans to import fuel by sea this month because of refinery damage caused by repeated drone attacks.

Diplomatic push at the G7

President Zelenskiy held what he called a “coordinating conversation” with Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting in France. He described the talks as an effort to push Russia toward negotiations after more than four years of war. Trump noted that both Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy seemed open to doing something, though he added, “They just don’t know how to do it.” The Kremlin said Putin had not discussed a meeting with Zelenskiy during his latest phone call with Trump.

We are all currently producing too little, and this can be offset by granting licences to companies that have these production capabilities, including European and Ukrainian firms.

G7 leaders issued an overnight statement promising to “increase the delivery of air defence capacities, additional systems and interceptors, and long-range capabilities” to Ukraine. They also supported licensing arrangements that would allow Ukrainian and European companies to produce air-defence missiles and deep-strike weapons domestically, a proposal US firms could facilitate.

Casualties and damage

Earlier this week, a major Russian missile attack on Kyiv killed 10 people and badly damaged a 1,000-year-old monastery that is a symbol of Ukraine’s spiritual and cultural heritage. Russia denied targeting the monastery. In the Russian-held city of Enerhodar, where most staff of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant live, a Moscow-installed official said Ukrainian strikes killed one person and injured four. In Russia’s Belgorod region, local authorities reported one man killed in his car by a Ukrainian drone. Moscow also accused Ukraine of attacking a bus carrying Belarusian schoolchildren, an allegation Kyiv dismissed as false.

Timeline of the week’s escalation

President Trump, like all of us, simply acknowledged that there was no serious willingness on Russia’s part today to discuss peace.

Macron hailed a “very deep change in the US approach”, and leaders spoke of renewed unity in pressuring Russia. Trump, in his final press conference, described Russia as the “offensive” party and said it was losing more soldiers than Ukraine.