Ukraine drones hit Moscow refinery in biggest attack on capital in years

KYIV: Ukraine launched its biggest drone assault on Moscow in years on Thursday, setting off fires, striking a major oil refinery and forcing evacuations at Russia’s busiest airport, according to Russian authorities and AFP reporters on the ground.

Authorities said at least 17 people were wounded in the attacks, which also ignited a shopping centre and an apartment building. AFP reporters described thick black smoke rising over southern Moscow and soot mixed with rain falling from the sky.

The attack came as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Southeast Asian leaders at a summit in Kazan, around 700 kilometres east of Moscow. Putin did not publicly comment on the strikes during the day, although he issued other press statements. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, said Moscow would answer with its own massive strikes on Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the operation was an absolutely justified response to deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv, including one earlier this week that hit a landmark cathedral and a Unesco-protected 11th-century monastery.

Speaking to reporters including AFP, Zelensky said he wanted Russians to press Putin over the consequences of the war.

"The main thing is that the people of Russia begin to feel that it is one man, Putin, who is waging this war, while ordinary people pay the price for everything,"

He also said "If Ukraine is going to burn, your Moscow will burn too."

Airport disruption and refinery strike

Moscow’s airports were closed for several hours, causing hundreds of delays. Sheremetyevo, the country’s largest airport, said passengers were moved to safe locations during the barrage before operations resumed at about 11am GMT+3 (0800 GMT).

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said several drones reached the Moscow oil refinery but did not specify the extent of the damage. Traffic was halted on nearby roads, authorities said.

Another drone hit an apartment block, while falling debris from another unmanned aircraft triggered a blaze at a shopping centre in the suburbs of the capital. One video circulating on social media appeared to show smoke pouring from the top floors of an apartment building as a woman cried behind the camera.

A resident identified only as Konstantin, who was near the refinery in the Kapotnya district, told AFP he had never witnessed anything similar. Valentina, a 29-year-old manager, said the sounds of the attack woke her up and described the experience as frightening as she stood in a park with her daughter and smoke visible behind them.

Scale of the barrage

Sobyanin said Russian air defences shot down around 180 drones approaching Moscow. The Russian defence ministry said more than 500 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across the country overnight.

This was the second Ukrainian strike on the Moscow refinery this week. Ukraine has increased long-range drone attacks inside Russia in recent months, describing them as long-range sanctions and targeting oil refineries that Kyiv says help finance Russia’s war effort.

It was also the second time this month that Ukraine carried out a major attack during an international summit in Russia, after a strike on Saint Petersburg at the opening of an economic forum near the city.

Zelensky said diplomatic efforts to end the war, now more than four years old, remained stuck and called on Russia to take the necessary steps in diplomacy.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said Russia launched more than 200 drones and multiple ballistic missiles at Ukraine between late Wednesday and early Thursday. AFP reporters in Kyiv said people rushed to shelters in the early morning as air defence explosions echoed over the capital.

Putin attends summit in Kazan

In the hours after the attack, Putin posed for photographs with leaders attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kazan and made no reference to the strikes in his opening remarks.

Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore sent their prime ministers to the summit, while the Philippines was represented by President Ferdinand Marcos.

Putin has long tried to present an image of stability in Russia despite the economic and social strain of the war. But a recent series of attacks has forced the Kremlin to react. After similar Ukrainian strikes on Saint Petersburg earlier this month, Putin said air defences would be strengthened.

US President Donald Trump said this week that Moscow should make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.