A drone attack targeted a major oil refinery on the outskirts of Moscow on Tuesday, sparking a fire and causing damage to the facility, Russian officials said, while Ukraine claimed responsibility for the operation, describing it as retaliation for recent Russian assaults.
The incident occurred a day after Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of launching more than 600 drones and 70 missiles across various parts of Ukraine, attacks that reportedly killed at least 11 people and damaged the grounds of a UNESCO-listed Orthodox monastery in Kyiv.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said enemy drone activity against the Russian capital had continued over the previous 24 hours and confirmed that one of the unmanned aerial vehicles struck infrastructure linked to a Moscow oil refinery.
“Over the past 24 hours, enemy drone attacks on Moscow have continued. One of the drones damaged a Moscow oil refinery facility. There were no casualties,” Sobyanin stated on Russia’s state-run Max platform.
He added that Russian air defence systems had intercepted 60 drones aimed at Moscow on Tuesday. According to the state-owned TASS news agency, the barrage ranks among the largest drone attacks directed at the Russian capital this year.
Authorities also restricted traffic in the southeastern Kapotnya district of Moscow, where the affected refinery is located. The facility belongs to energy giant Gazprom and plays a significant role in the region’s fuel processing operations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later confirmed that Ukrainian forces were behind the strike.
“This time, the Moscow region felt the reach of Ukraine’s long-range capabilities. An oil refinery was hit at a distance of 500 kilometres (310 miles),” Zelensky wrote on social media.
He shared video footage appearing to show a drone flying above residential buildings before striking an industrial complex. The footage captured an explosion near a red-and-white industrial chimney, followed by large clouds of smoke rising from the site.
Zelensky described the operation as a justified response to Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukrainian territory.
“This is a just response to Russian strikes — and to the dragging out of a war that must be ended,” he said.
Since launching its military offensive in Ukraine in 2022, Russia has repeatedly carried out large-scale aerial assaults involving drones and missiles. Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure have frequently come under attack during the conflict.
In response, Kyiv has expanded its long-range strike capabilities in recent months, increasingly targeting Russian energy facilities, fuel depots and export infrastructure. Ukrainian officials argue that such operations are intended to weaken a key source of revenue used to finance Moscow’s military campaign.
The latest attack underscores the growing reach of Ukraine’s drone programme and highlights the continuing escalation of cross-border strikes between the two countries, despite international calls for a negotiated end to the conflict.
