Ukraine Strikes Moscow Oil Refinery in Massive Drone Attack, Sparking Fires and Transport Chaos
The Russian capital, Moscow, was hit by a massive wave of drone attacks launched by the Ukrainian military, sparking a fierce blaze at a major city oil refinery. This long-range aerial assault marks one of Kyiv’s most powerful offensive operations into the heart of Russia’s defences in the past two years.
The barrage of drones deliberately targeted vital energy facilities in Moscow’s Kapotno district, forcing authorities to carry out mass evacuations at Russia’s largest airports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asserted that the precision strike was a proportional retaliation for Russia’s brutality in destroying a historic monastery complex, a UNESCO cultural heritage site, in Kyiv earlier this week.
The sheer scale of the air attack shocked Moscow residents and triggered widespread panic on social media, as the city rarely activates its early warning sirens. Video footage circulating online showed thick plumes of black smoke rising from the Kapotno oil refinery complex, a facility that supplies approximately 40% of the Russian capital’s petrol and 50% of its diesel fuel.
The attack immediately caused chaos in Moscow’s ground and air transport networks. The Ministry of Internal Affairs completely shut down the outer ring toll road near the refinery. Furthermore, Sheremetyevo Airport—Moscow’s busiest—along with Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports, were forced to suspend all flight schedules and evacuate passengers to open-air car parks for safety.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed that air defence forces were continuing to repel the large-scale attack. He stated that some drones managed to reach the Moscow oil refinery and damaged the Sadovod shopping centre in the southeastern part of the city, while approximately 180 drones heading for the capital were shot down.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed its air defence artillery systems intercepted and destroyed a total of 555 Ukrainian drones across several regions overnight. Despite this, Kyiv’s Bars hybrid missile-technology drones successfully crippled operations at the Kapotno refinery, worsening the domestic fuel supply crisis and forcing the Kremlin to begin importing fuel by sea this month.
Ukraine’s success in penetrating Moscow’s air defence fortress has provoked deep anger among Russia’s political elite and radical right-wing groups. Several influential figures urged President Vladimir Putin—who was in Kazan hosting ASEAN leaders—to take immediate and brutal retaliatory action.
Ultra-conservative Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeev wrote on his personal Telegram channel, “What else has to happen before we start fighting for real? Why don’t we use the nuclear weapons that our ancestors created and stockpiled through the hard work of the entire country precisely for moments like these?”
Similar condemnation was voiced by retired Lieutenant General and Russian parliamentary representative Andrey Gurulyov, who demanded the military strike Ukraine without mercy and without overthinking. Meanwhile, escalation on the front lines continues to claim casualties on both sides, including civilian deaths from drone strikes in the Sumy, Enerhodar, Rostov, and Belgorod border regions.
The deadly attack on Moscow occurred just hours after Zelensky announced important coordination via telephone calls with US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Versailles. France and the US reaffirmed the unity of the Group of Seven nations to channel new, larger commitments of financial and military defence aid to support Ukraine’s sovereignty.