Footage appears to show a Russian anti-air missile blowing up Moscow Oil Refinery

Chaos erupted in areas of the Russian capital of Moscow on Thursday morning when Ukrainian strike drones targeted several sites.

The morning assault sparked a massive fire at the Moscow Oil Refinery, which is located just 15 kilometers from the Kremlin.

Local residents captured dramatic footage showing multiple fires burning across the plant grounds as thick plumes of black smoke filled the sky.

This facility is a massive piece of Russia’s energy puzzle. It ranks among the ten largest oil refineries in the country and processes 11 million metric tons of crude oil every single year. Crucially, the plant supplies about 40 percent of the petroleum products needed by Moscow and its surrounding region.

But the fire was only part of the story. A viral video posted on Reddit by a user named Horat1us_UA captured a spectacular blunder by the city’s own air defenses.

Anti-aircraft failure

The footage shows what appears to be a Russian Pantsir anti-aircraft missile slamming directly into a petroleum storage tank. Then comes the blast.

A massive explosion sends the heavy lid of the tank flying high into the air while a distinct missile trail lingers in the sky.

In the video, the user points to the characteristic trail of a missile flying through the air. Looking closer at the footage, a black dot appears near the storage tank just before the explosion.

The footage has not been independently verified.

According to the outlet Militarnyi, observers noted that the system recorded several misses during the drone raid. These failures might mean that the homing heads on Russia’s 9M335 and 57Э6 missiles struggle to lock onto small targets like drones.

The capital was not the only target of the overnight operation. Further south, another wave of Ukrainian drones hit an energy facility in Gukovo, a town in Rostov Oblast.

The governor of the Rostov region later confirmed the damage, but he did not say whether friendly fire was to blame.

Local eyewitnesses reported hearing a series of explosions just after seeing drones fly overhead.

This article is made and published by Jens Asbjørn Bogen, who may have used AI in the preparation