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Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks of the war overnight Thursday, striking a major Moscow oil refinery for the second time in a week and grounding flights across the Russian capital. Massive fires erupted at the Moscow Oil Refinery, located roughly 15 kilometers from the Kremlin, sending thick black smoke billowing over the city as the facility burned.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the strikes on social media, saying long-range Ukrainian operations reached the Moscow region for the second time this week, with additional targets hit in Russia's Rostov region and in occupied Ukrainian territory. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin acknowledged multiple drones struck the refinery, while the Russian Transport Ministry confirmed flights were suspended at four Moscow airports. Sheremetyevo, Moscow's busiest airport, was evacuated entirely before restrictions were eventually lifted.
The refinery itself is one of Russia's largest, supplying more than a third of the fuel consumed in the capital region. It was already hit once this week, on Tuesday, though officials said that earlier fire was contained quickly. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses shot down 555 drones overnight and intercepted nearly 200 more approaching Moscow directly, a number Ukrainian officials say was roughly double what Russia itself launched at Ukraine the same night.
The strikes were not limited to the capital. In the surrounding Moscow region, a drone slammed into a residential building in the town of Zhukovsky, injuring 16 people and forcing an evacuation, according to regional governor Andrei Vorobyov. Falling drone debris also damaged private homes, a car, a fitness center, an industrial facility, and a shopping mall, where the roof caught fire.
Zelensky framed the assault as direct retaliation for Russia's deadly strike on a 1,000-year-old Kyiv monastery earlier this week, an attack that killed at least 10 people and drew sharp international condemnation. "This is a fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities," he wrote, calling on Moscow to finally pursue serious diplomacy.
The attack landed hours after Zelensky held what he called an important coordination call with President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 summit. Trump told reporters Russia should make a deal, noting the staggering losses on both sides. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov dismissed the Western pressure as harmful European influence and said the strikes had pushed back any prospect of a Putin-Zelensky meeting.
