Ukrainian Drones Set A Moscow Refinery Ablaze In A Major Attack On The Russian Capital

Ukraine attacked a major Moscow oil refinery for the second time in a week on Thursday, sending huge clouds of black smoke over the capital and disrupting hundreds of flights at airports in one of the biggest drone strikes since Russia’s attack. full scale invasion Authorities said this happened more than four years ago.

There is Ukraine It repeatedly targeted Russian oil facilitiesIt aims to cut Moscow’s income from the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the occupation. Some regions reported fuel shortage.

The attack, carried out by dozens of drones, came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had held and won an “important coordination meeting” with the presidents of the United States and France. significant commitments to further support from this week’s G7 summit.

“If Ukraine is going to burn, your Moscow will also burn,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the attack was part of Kiev’s effort to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. “It is time to end the aggression, to end this war.”

The Moscow attack was Putin’s last embarrassment. Ukrainian drones attacked hometown St. petersburg while hosting foreign VIPs at a showcase economic forum in the city earlier this month.

On Thursday, Putin was in Kazan, about 700 kilometers (430 miles) east of Moscow, hosting leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as Russia seeks to strengthen trade and other ties with the regional bloc.

Russia’s state-controlled television channels only briefly mentioned the attack on Moscow. Pro-Kremlin newspapers reported this; While some praised the air defense performance, they noted that the attack underlined the need to further strengthen the defensive shield around the capital.

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, warned that Moscow would respond by increasing its attacks.

“Their action will lead us to fight back and inflict harder blows with stronger weapons,” Volodin said in his televised speech.

Some Russian hawks have called on the Kremlin to respond with nuclear weapons. Nationalist Konstantin Malofeyev criticized the army for “fighting at half-strength in a gentlemanly manner”.

“War means victory at any cost,” Malofeyev wrote on his Telegram channel, proposing the use of “nuclear weapons that our ancestors created and stockpiled when mobilizing the strength of the entire country for exactly this purpose, that is, to win.”

Thick, black smoke and occasional flames billowed from the Moscow Oil Refinery from the center of red-and-white smokestacks on the city’s southeastern edge, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Kremlin. Sooty, black rain fell on the cars, according to local video.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in his post on

The refinery is one of the largest in Russia and produces more than a third of the Moscow region’s fuel, according to its website. It was last attacked by Ukraine on Tuesday, but officials said the fire was quickly extinguished.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Thursday that the fire at the refinery was “largely under control,” adding that the remaining hot spots had been extinguished.

As Ukraine continues its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, fuel supplies appear to be under pressure. Gas station chains in many areas have placed restrictions on what drivers can purchase. Russian independent news outlet Agentstvo reported that one in four gas stations has introduced some form of restriction.

Authorities in the capital said in a statement hours after the attack that “the supply of petroleum products to Moscow and the operations of all gas stations in the city continue normally.”

The attack also temporarily halted flights from four Moscow airports, transport and aviation officials said. Russian business newspaper Kommersant counted more than 500 delayed or canceled flights at airports, based on online flight information.

According to Governor Andrei Vorobyov, a drone crashed into a residential building in the town of Zhukovsky in the greater Moscow region. Buildings elsewhere were damaged by drone debris and 17 people, including two children, were injured, the official added.

“Russia is in the background militarily, economically and politically,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement after her meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on the X channel on Thursday. “Now is the time to provide more support to Ukraine and put more pressure on Russia to end the war.”

Zelenskyy held talks with NATO and European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday, and German and Ukrainian defense ministers signed an agreement to develop a joint air defense system against ballistic missiles. Zelenskyy called it the beginning of an “anti-ballistic missile coalition” and invited others to join.

There is Russia He brutally hit Ukraine with such missiles that air defenses find it difficult to counter.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 555 Ukrainian drones in multiple regions overnight, with almost 200 intercepted as they approached Moscow. This was roughly twice the number of drones Russia launched into Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.

“If Putin does not want to end this war and wants to continue it, we will not sit silently, we will respond,” Zelenskyy said in his voice message during a group chat with journalists.

He agreed to an unconditional ceasefire demanded by US President Donald Trump, but Putin refused and US-led peace efforts failed.

Besides promises of more diplomatic and military aid at the G7 summit, Western officials and analysts say Ukraine has recently gained momentum on the battlefield against Russia’s massive army thanks to high-tech drones. In addition to disrupting oil production, longer-range drones are also clogging Russian supply lines in occupied regions of Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron He said the G7 summit was “very important for Ukraine” because its supporters (including the United States in particular) had promised aid but did not provide details. The United States under Trump has cut aid to Ukraine, leaving the Europeans as the largest provider of military and financial aid. Trump and Zelenskyy have had a tense relationship at times.

“America is with us on Ukraine, this is very important,” Macron and Trump said as they left the Palace of Versailles near Paris.

In other developments Thursday, Russia hit the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine with two glider bombs, killing a 64-year-old man fishing in the river, regional military administration chief Oleh Hryhorov said. Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said one person was killed and nine people were injured in Russia’s attack on the central city of Dnipro.