Ukraine strikes Moscow refinery again, disrupts capital flights in escalating drone campaign

On Thursday morning in Moscow, flames and smoke rose over Kapotnya, the southeastern district where the capital's main oil refinery sits. Ukrainian drones had struck again—the second time in as many days—in what officials would later describe as one of the year's largest aerial assaults on Russian territory. The attack disrupted flights across Moscow's airports, including Sheremetyevo, the city's busiest hub, which was evacuated. Traffic on highways near the refinery ground to a halt.

Scores of drones crossed into Russian airspace that morning. Russia's defence ministry claimed its air defences shot down 555 drones nationwide, with Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin reporting 180 intercepted around the capital alone. But enough got through. The refinery, already damaged by a strike two days earlier that had halted its operations, took fresh hits. A shopping centre in the area sustained minor damage as well. In the surrounding Moscow region, a high-rise apartment building, an industrial facility, and several private homes were also damaged, according to the regional governor.

Ukraine framed the escalating campaign as evidence of shifting momentum in a war now more than four years old. Kyiv's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, posted on social media that morning: the question Muscovites were asking—what is happening?—had a straightforward answer. Your country invaded ours, he wrote. For years it has killed our people. Now that you understand what's occurring, ask your president when he plans to stop. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the strikes a "totally fair response" to Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and a demonstration of Ukraine's capacity to damage the infrastructure sustaining Russia's war effort.

The targeting of energy facilities has become central to Ukraine's strategy. As a major oil producer and exporter, Russia depends on its refining capacity. The repeated strikes have forced Moscow to plan fuel imports by sea in June to manage petrol shortages. Industry sources confirmed the cascading damage across Russian energy infrastructure from months of Ukrainian drone operations.

Russia responded as it has repeatedly done: with missiles fired into Kyiv. Explosions sounded across the Ukrainian capital, and air-raid alerts were issued across most of the country. In the northeastern city of Sumy, one person was killed in a drone attack. The cycle of reciprocal strikes on energy and civilian targets continued. On Monday, a Russian missile had damaged Kyiv's medieval monastery, a structure nearly a thousand years old and a symbol of Ukraine's spiritual heritage. The strike drew condemnation from European leaders. Russia denied responsibility.

Elsewhere in Russian territory, the human toll accumulated quietly. In the Belgorod border region, a Ukrainian drone strike killed one man in his car. In the southern Rostov region, another attack killed one person and sparked fires at two commercial facilities. These deaths, scattered across the landscape of the conflict, rarely made headlines.

Zelenskiy has intensified diplomatic efforts, using the military pressure as leverage to push Russia toward negotiations. Ukraine argues that its growing drone capabilities—demonstrated repeatedly now against Moscow itself—should compel Russia to accept a peace settlement. Moscow, by contrast, maintains that Ukraine is losing and has demanded Kyiv cede additional territory before discussing any talks. The gap between the two positions remains vast, and the strikes continue.