Ukraine strikes Moscow refinery in largest drone attack, shutting airports and disrupting capital

The attack on Moscow

Ukrainian drones evaded Russian air defences and hit the Moscow oil refinery in the Kapotnya district overnight, the second strike on the facility since 16 June. The explosion was so powerful that the disc-shaped lid of an oil storage tank was launched into the sky like a frisbee, according to witnesses cited by Reuters. Several drones reached the refinery, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, while the Russian defence ministry reported that air defences shot down 555 drones across multiple regions overnight, with almost 200 intercepted on their approach to Moscow.

Damage and disruption

Flames and thick plumes of black smoke rose over the southeastern district, visible across the city. The refinery supplies up to 40 percent of Moscow's petrol and about half of its diesel fuel, according to the Irish Times. Flights were suspended at all Moscow airports; Sheremetyevo, the busiest, was evacuated and about 50 aircraft were diverted to Nizhny Novgorod. Traffic on the ring road near the refinery was halted. Moscow region authorities said 17 people were injured, mainly from falling drone debris. Damage was also reported to a shopping centre, a high-rise residential building and several private homes.

“One of the most popular questions asked by Muscovites this morning is 'What is going on?' I can answer. Your country started a war of aggression against ours. For years, it has been killing our people. Now that you know what's going on, ask Putin when he is planning to end it.”

Ukraine's wider strike campaign

The Moscow attack is part of a widening campaign to cripple the oil industry that finances Russia's war. Last week, drones belonging to the Azov brigade's First Corps hit electrical substations, repair facilities and a sanctioned ship in occupied Mariupol, plunging the strategic port into a blackout, according to Kyiv's military. Ukrainian drone maker Fire Point screened footage of the Moscow refinery strike at the Eurosatory arms fair in Paris on the same day, displaying the video with the message "Battle proved in Ukraine".

Diplomatic pressure at G7

The operation unfolded hours after President Zelenskiy spoke with US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders on the sidelines of a G7 summit in France. Zelenskiy described the refinery strike as a justified response to Russian attacks, pointing to a missile strike earlier this week that killed 10 people in Kyiv and damaged a 1,000-year-old monastery. "If Ukraine burns, Moscow will burn," he warned. A Kremlin aide said Trump had been "pumped up" with harmful ideas at the summit. President Putin, who was hosting Southeast Asian leaders in Kazan, did not comment.

Russia's response

Russia launched its own missile attack on Kyiv early Thursday. A Reuters witness heard explosions in the capital, and one person was killed by a drone in the northeastern city of Sumy. Russian state television gave the Moscow drone strike minimal coverage, showing only screenshots of the mayor's social media posts rather than footage of the fires. Moscow has faced periodic drone strikes since May 2023, but Thursday's attack marked the largest-ever disruption to daily life in the city of 13 million people.