Ukraine hits Moscow oil refinery again, part of massive drone wave inside Russia

Ukraine hit a major Moscow oil refinery for a second time in a week and disrupted commercial flights at Moscow airports in one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbour more than four years ago, Russian officials said Thursday.

Images and video released by the Russian media showed massive fires raging at the Moscow Oil Refinery, located about 15 kilometres from the Kremlin. Thick black clouds of smoke rose over the city.

The refinery is one of Russia’s biggest, according to its official website, and accounts for more than a third of the fuel market of the capital region. It was last attacked by Ukrainian drones on Tuesday, catching fire, but officials said the blaze was swiftly put out.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russia’s oil facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion.

The Sheremetyevo airport, Moscow’s busiest, suspended flights and was evacuated, with some people seeking shelter in the parking area, the airport said in a statement. The restrictions were later lifted.

Russia, for its part, fired missiles into Kyiv, also for the second time this week, following an attack that damaged Kyiv’s landmark 1,000-year-old monastery and drew international condemnation.

Hundreds of drones fired, Russia says

In the surrounding Moscow region, a drone hit a residential building in the town of Zhukovsky, and the building was being evacuated, according to Gov. Andrei Vorobyov, who said 16 people were injured in the Ukrainian drone attack.

Elsewhere in the region, drone debris hit private houses, a car, a fitness centre, an unspecified industrial facility and a large mall, whose roof caught fire, Vorobyov said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that its air defences overnight shot down 555 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, with almost 200 intercepted as they were approaching the Russian capital.

That was roughly double the number of drones that Russia launched at Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.

The attack was the latest embarrassment for Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a Ukrainian drone attack on his hometown of St. Petersburg earlier this month just as he held a showcase economic forum in the city with foreign VIP visitors.

“This is a fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities, and another important result of our warriors’ work against facilities that sustain Russia’s war machine,” he said on social media.

“It is time the war ended, and Russia must take the necessary steps in diplomacy.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X: “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.”

Buoyed by G7 support

As well as gaining pledges of more diplomatic and military help from Western supporters at the G7 summit, Ukraine recently has gained momentum on the battlefield against Russia’s bigger army thanks to its high-tech drones, Western officials and analysts say.

As well as disrupting Russian oil production, longer-range drone strikes are choking Russian supply lines in occupied regions of Ukraine.

The attack came hours after Zelenskyy said he had held “an important co-ordination call” with U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron that may “bring about significant change.”

Zelenskyy said Wednesday his country had won key pledges of further support from world leaders attending the G7 summit in France, including the United States.

Macron said the G7 summit was “very important for Ukraine” because its supporters — crucially including the United States — vowed to help it, although the French president provided no details.

″America is with us on Ukraine, that is very important,″ Macron said.

The U.S. under Trump has cut back assistance to Ukraine, leaving the Europeans as the biggest suppliers of military and financial aid. Trump and Zelenskyy have had an at-times strained relationship.