Ukraine hit a major Moscow oil refinery for a second time in a week, sending thick black clouds of smoke into the sky, and disrupted commercial flights at the city’s airports in one of its biggest drone attacks of the war.
Russian air defences shot down at least 194 drones headed for the city, according to Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin. It was part of a major, long-range attack across parts of Russia, with air defences intercepting 555 drones overall, according to the Russian ministry of defence.
“Air defence forces are continuing to repel a large-scale attack. Several drones managed to reach the [Moscow oil refinery],” said Mr Sobyanin. At least seven of Ukraine’s drones appear to have beaten Russia’s air defences to strike targets in the city.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack was in response to repeated aerial assaults on Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s forces.
“We don’t want this war, we never did, and everyone knows it, and our partners know it,” the president said in a voice message sent to reporters on a WhatsApp group. “But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn.”
Mr Zelensky also called on Europe and the US to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions on Russia’s defence and energy sectors: “Everyone needs to put pressure on Putin: Ukrainians, absolutely all the Europeans, Americans, and Russians – it’s time to sober up and put pressure on their leader.”
The attack was apparently intended to shut down operations at the key oil refinery, in Moscow’s southeastern district of Kapotnya, after it was damaged in a previous strike on Tuesday. Footage posted online showed parts of the structure being blown into the air, with several plumes of smoke billowing from the refinery complex and flames spreading. The blast was so powerful that the huge disc-shaped lid of an oil storage tank was launched into the sky like a Frisbee.
The oil facility supplies up to 40 per cent of Moscow’s fuel market, and around 70 per cent of petrol consumed in Moscow and the surrounding region.
Kyiv has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks, including on major oil refineries. The attacks have forced Russia, the world’s third-biggest oil producer and a major fuel exporter, to import fuel by sea this month as it seeks to manage a shortage.
Mr Zelensky also called the attack “a fully justified response to Russian strikes on our cities and communities” in a Telegram post from Brussels, where he is meeting with Nato allies.
“In recent days, all our partners have noted the precision and effectiveness of our mid-range strikes and long-range sanctions,” he said.
In another part of Moscow, a large plume of smoke was seen rising near the Sadovod shopping centre, which describes itself as Russia’s largest shopping centre. An apartment building and fitness centre were also damaged by falling debris, according to the Russian state-run news agency Tass.
An oil depot in Russia’s Rostov region was also struck, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.
16 people were injured in the drone attack, according to Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region.
In response, Russia launched seven missiles and 239 drones towards Ukraine on Thursday. The structures that were hit included a private home, an energy infrastructure facility, a hangar, and oil facilities in the Kyiv and Poltava regions, according to Ukrainian and Russian authorities.
This attack comes after Kyiv was hit by a major ballistic missile and drone barrage earlier this week, which killed at least 11 people and marked a significant escalation in airstrikes between the two warring countries.
The latest attacks are part of a wider Ukrainian campaign to cripple the Russian oil industry, whose revenues finance the country’s war effort. But by striking with apparent impunity at a piece of critical infrastructure located inside Moscow’s ring road, just 10 miles from the Kremlin, Ukraine is also sending a message to ordinary Russians.
“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 foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, posted on X.
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