Moscow came under its most intense Ukrainian assault since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with nearly 200 drones targeting the Russian capital and surrounding areas, triggering fires, explosions, and widespread disruption.
According to Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov, 17 people were wounded in the attack. Russia’s Defence Ministry reported intercepting and destroying almost 1,000 Ukrainian drones and four cruise missiles across the country in the past 24 hours. An oil depot in Russia’s southern Rostov region was also struck, killing one person.
Fires broke out at the Kapotnya oil refinery in southeast Moscow, the third such incident at the facility in the past month and the second this week. Thick black smoke billowed over parts of the capital. Video footage circulating online showed a powerful explosion at an oil storage tank, with its lid hurled dozens of metres into the air.
A nearby shopping centre caught fire after what authorities described as falling drone debris, while several residential high-rises were evacuated as a precaution. The attack caused major travel chaos, with all four Moscow airports temporarily closed and more than 500 flights cancelled or delayed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the operation as “long-range sanctions” – Kyiv’s term for deep strikes inside Russia and framed it as retaliation for a recent Russian attack on Kyiv that damaged a major religious site.
“It’s time to end this war, and Russia must take the necessary steps in diplomacy,” Zelensky said. “We don’t want this war and have never wanted it. But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha echoed the message on X, telling Muscovites: “Your country started a war of aggression against ours… Now that you know what’s going on, ask Putin when he is planning to end it.”
The strike reflects Ukraine’s growing ability and determination to carry out long-range attacks far behind Russian lines. Although Moscow lies roughly 500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, drone incursions over the capital have become more frequent and larger in scale since the first successful strikes in spring 2023. Russia has bolstered air defences around the city, yet Ukrainian forces continue to penetrate them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, currently hosting Southeast Asian leaders at a summit in Kazan, has not yet commented publicly on the attack. Fighting continues along the front lines in Ukraine, but Kyiv’s strategy increasingly aims to bring the realities of the war home to Russian civilians.
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