Refinery up in flames as 200 drones swarm Moscow in biggest strike by Ukraine

Plumes of black smoke and fireballs rose over Russia's capital, Moscow, after a barrage of Ukrainian drones struck the Moscow oil refinery in what Russian state-run news agency TASS described as Kyiv's largest attack on the city in the past two years. The Gazprom Neft-owned oil refinery, located in Moscow's Kapotnya administrative district, just 15 km from the Kremlin, the seat of the Russian government, was struck by at least seven drones. The attack was the second on the facility in recent days, following a similar drone strike on Thursday.

The complex is reported to have had a refining capacity of 12 million tons of oil per year and to have supplied 70% of the petrol consumed by Moscow and the surrounding regions, according to the Ukraine-based news outlet Kyiv Post.

The attack on the Moscow oil refinery was part of a larger Ukrainian drone offensive directed against the city. According to Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, who posted on Telegram, air defences in Moscow shot down at least 194 drones overnight. Footage shared on social media showed black plumes of smoke and fireballs rising over nearby buildings as emergency crews rushed to the site.

Aside from Moscow, the Russian Defence Ministry has claimed that its air defences overnight shot down 555 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions across the country.

However, despite nearly 200 drones swarming the capital early on Thursday morning, no municipal air raid sirens were activated, triggering widespread panic and confusion as residents woke up to the sound of buzzing engines and loud explosions, reported US-based CNN.

Aside from the refinery, Ukraine's drone strikes also hit a high-rise residential building, an industrial facility, the Sadovod shopping complex, and several private houses in and around Moscow, reported The Guardian, citing the Governor of Moscow Oblast, Andrey Vorobyov.

The drone strikes and the ensuing blaze severely disrupted Moscow. Traffic was halted on Moscow’s ring road near the refinery, Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti reported, citing the Interior Ministry.

Air traffic was also disrupted at all four of Moscow's airports, including the Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky airports, which suspended all of their operations, according to a report by the news agency Associated Press (AP), citing the Russian Transport Ministry.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Thursday’s attacks "a fully justified response to Russian strikes on our cities and communities," in a Telegram post from Brussels, where he arrived on Wednesday for meetings with Nato leaders.

"In recent days, all our partners have noted the precision and effectiveness of our mid-range strikes and long-range sanctions," Zelenskyy was quoted by CNN.

Russia, in response, fired back at Ukraine with seven missiles and 239 drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. The attack struck a private home, an energy infrastructure facility, a hangar, and oil facilities in both the Kyiv and Poltava regions, CNN reported, citing Ukrainian and Russian authorities.

ATTACK ON MOSCOW PART OF LARGER UKRAINIAN STRATEGY

The strike at the Moscow Oil Refinery is hardly the first such incident. Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries have intensified since 2024, becoming a key component of Kyiv's strategy to disrupt Moscow's war economy. Ukraine has targeted at least 24 of Russia's 33 major refineries since the full-scale invasion, with 158 strikes recorded by mid-2026.

The cumulative impact has significantly impaired Russia's refining sector. Attacks have caused repeated shutdowns and reduced output at facilities, including those in Kirishi, Ryazan, Samara, and Perm, with offline primary refining capacity peaking at around 20–40% during intense periods.

Russian refinery runs dropped to multi-year lows, sometimes below 5 million barrels per day, triggering domestic fuel shortages, temporary export bans on petrol and diesel, and higher internal prices.

According to the news agency Reuters, Russia, the world's third-biggest oil producer and a major oil and fuel exporter, is set to import fuel by sea this month to manage a growing petrol shortage following extensive Ukrainian drone attacks on its refineries.

Economically, the campaign has inflicted substantial losses. Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure in 2025 alone cost the Russian oil sector over $13 billion in direct damage, lost profits, and indirect effects, reported the Russian financial news outlet, Kommersant.

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