Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Footage from Moscow shows a large plume of smoke rising from the refinery.
Moscow woke up to chaos on Thursday morning.
Explosions echoed across the city as thick black smoke filled the sky.
According to reports from The Kyiv Independent, a massive wave of drones targeted the metropolitan area on June 18.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin stated that Russian air defense units shot down 52 drones heading toward the city. However, some managed to break through. Sobyanin confirmed that the attack was “massive” and admitted that “several drones managed to reach the Moscow Oil Refinery.”
The refinery strike sparked a major fire at the critical facility. It marks the second time in just three days that the energy plant has been hit.
Local residents posted videos online showing at least five distinct fires burning inside the complex, according to an analysis by the independent Russian monitoring channel Astra.
Damage spreads wide
The disruption hit the city’s transport network fast. Authorities placed temporary flight restrictions on three major airports, including Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo, leaving travellers stranded. Meanwhile, falling debris caused minor damage to a local shopping center.
Outside the city center, the fallout was even worse. Moscow Oblast Governor Andrey Vorobyov reported that falling drone parts damaged an apartment building in the Zhukovsky district, forcing residents to flee. In nearby towns, the debris hit a fitness center and set private cottages on fire.
This latest raid follows a similar strike on June 16. That previous attack completely shut down operations at the refinery, according to industry sources cited by Reuters. The plant is a major prize, supplying roughly 40% of Moscow’s fuel.
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Blazes in the south
Moscow was not the only target. Farther south, in Rostov Oblast, another Ukrainian drone strike triggered a giant fire at an oil depot in the town of Gukovo, Astra reported.
That attack turned deadly. Regional Governor Yury Slyusar claimed that the strike killed one person and injured two others. He also noted damage to a local train locomotive.
To counter the growing threat, Russia recently placed new air defense systems on civilian rooftops in the capital. But these multimillion-dollar weapons failed to stop the latest onslaught. The war, it seems, keeps finding a way through.
