BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Ukraine launched one of its largest long-range drone attacks on Moscow this year on Thursday, striking the Russian capital’s main oil refinery for the second time in the same week in a major escalation of its campaign against Russia’s energy infrastructure.
The assault came as Russia responded with another wave of missile strikes on Kyiv, continuing an intensifying cycle of attacks that has further dimmed hopes for a negotiated end to the more than four-year war.
The latest exchange of strikes underscored the growing reach of Ukraine’s expanding drone program, which Kyiv says is increasingly capable of carrying the war deep inside Russian territory. Ukrainian officials described the operation as evidence that Moscow can no longer shield critical infrastructure from long-range attacks, while Russian authorities reported widespread damage, transport disruptions and one of the largest drone assaults on the capital in recent months.
Witnesses in Moscow reported seeing flames and thick columns of smoke rising above the Kapotnya district in southeastern Moscow, where the city’s principal oil refinery is located. The refinery is one of the capital’s most important fuel production facilities and had already been targeted earlier in the week, with industry sources saying operations were halted following Tuesday’s strike.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defense systems were engaged throughout the attack but acknowledged that several Ukrainian drones managed to reach the refinery despite interception efforts. He added that a shopping center sustained minor damage during the assault.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted or destroyed 555 Ukrainian drones across the country during the overnight attacks. According to Sobyanin, approximately 180 of those drones were intercepted around the Moscow region alone, highlighting the scale of the operation against the Russian capital.
Russian authorities imposed sweeping security measures during the attack. Flights were temporarily suspended at all of Moscow’s airports, traffic was halted on sections of the highway surrounding the refinery, and Sheremetyevo International Airport, the busiest airport in Russia, was evacuated as a precaution while emergency services responded to the unfolding situation.
Officials in the surrounding Moscow region reported damage to a residential high-rise building, an industrial facility and several private homes. Emergency crews were deployed to assess structural damage and assist affected residents.
Elsewhere in Russia, officials reported additional casualties linked to Ukrainian drone strikes. In the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border, authorities said one man was killed after a drone struck his vehicle. In the southern Rostov region, another drone attack killed one person and ignited fires at two commercial facilities, prompting emergency response operations.
Ukraine has significantly expanded its long-range drone campaign over the past year, increasingly targeting Russian oil refineries, fuel depots and industrial sites that support Moscow’s military operations. Kyiv argues that these facilities play a critical role in sustaining Russia’s war effort and therefore represent legitimate military targets.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha defended the attacks, responding to questions from residents in Moscow about the overnight strikes.
“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,” Sybiha wrote on social media.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also defended the operation, describing the strikes as a justified response to repeated Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. He said Ukrainian forces had successfully targeted facilities that support Russia’s military machine and pledged that similar operations would continue as long as Russian attacks persist.
Military analysts say Ukraine’s growing fleet of domestically produced drones has become one of Kyiv’s most effective strategic weapons, allowing it to strike hundreds of kilometers beyond the front lines while placing increasing pressure on Russia’s energy infrastructure and logistics network.
The repeated attacks have also begun affecting Russia’s fuel sector. Industry sources indicate that damage to multiple refineries has contributed to gasoline shortages, forcing Russia, one of the world’s largest oil producers and exporters, to prepare for seaborne fuel imports to stabilize domestic supplies.
At the same time, Russia launched another major aerial assault on Ukraine. Explosions echoed across Kyiv as ballistic missiles targeted the capital, prompting authorities to activate air raid alerts across much of the country.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, warned residents that ballistic missiles were targeting the capital and urged people to remain in shelters until the danger had passed. Officials did not immediately provide details regarding casualties or damage from the attack.
In Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, local authorities said a separate Russian drone strike killed one person.
The latest barrage followed another large-scale Russian attack earlier in the week that damaged Kyiv’s historic 1,000-year-old monastery, one of Ukraine’s most significant religious and cultural landmarks. The strike drew widespread international condemnation, although Russian officials denied deliberately targeting the site.
The latest escalation comes as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict remain deadlocked. President Zelenskyy has intensified appeals for greater international pressure on Moscow in hopes of bringing Russia back to meaningful peace negotiations.
Russia continues to insist that any future peace agreement must include Ukraine surrendering additional territory currently claimed by Moscow, a demand Kyiv has repeatedly rejected.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, argue that improvements in drone technology and battlefield tactics are beginning to shift momentum in their favor for the first time in several years. They say medium-range drones are increasingly disrupting Russian supply routes near the front, while long-range strikes are carrying the conflict deeper into Russian territory by targeting strategic infrastructure and military logistics.
As both sides continue exchanging increasingly sophisticated aerial attacks far from the battlefield, the war is entering a new phase in which long-range drone warfare has become a central element of the conflict, expanding the reach of both militaries and exposing civilian populations and critical infrastructure on both sides to growing risks.