Mass Ukrainian drone strike hits Moscow refinery, sparks fires and travel chaos

Ukraine launched a large-scale drone assault on Moscow on Wednesday morning, striking the Russian capital’s main refinery in Kapotnya. The plant caught fire and sent up large flames and smoke columns. It was the second attack on the refinery in two days, and the facility supplies fuel to Moscow. Reuters and The Guardian said reporters saw fire and smoke over the densely populated southeastern district where the refinery is located.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses were dealing with a “massive attack” and that several drones reached the refinery. He also said a shopping center was damaged, including the “Sadovod” mall in southeast Moscow. The Guardian reported that at least seven drones penetrated the air defenses and hit targets in the city. Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted and destroyed 555 Ukrainian drones overnight across several regions, while Sobyanin said 180 were downed in the Moscow region alone. The Guardian said those figures could not be independently verified, and TASS called it one of the biggest attacks on Moscow this year.

The strike disrupted roads and air travel. Traffic on the Moscow ring road near the refinery was stopped, and the airports at Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky were affected. Sheremetyevo, Moscow’s busiest airport, suspended operations and evacuated passengers from terminals, with some sheltering in the parking area. Social media videos appeared to show damage to the upper floors of a high-rise in Zhukovsky, and the regional governor said a residential tower, an industrial site and several private homes were also hit around the capital.

The refinery attack followed Tuesday’s strike that already shut the facility and added to wider damage to Russian energy infrastructure. The Guardian said Russia, the world’s third-largest oil producer and a major exporter of oil and fuel, is expected to import fuel by sea this month to offset shortages caused by Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries. The wider war continued overnight elsewhere: Russia again hit Kyiv with ballistic missiles and drones, Ukraine told residents to take shelter, one person was killed in Sumy, and air raid alerts sounded across most of the country. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strikes in Russia “a completely just response” to Russian attacks, while Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X that Russians should ask Vladimir Putin when he plans to end the war.