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Ukrainian Forces Launch Major Drone Offensive on Moscow, Targeting Russian Oil Infrastructure
Confirmed
In Short: Ukraine has launched a significant drone attack on Moscow, damaging a key oil refinery and causing widespread disruption, as Russia retaliated with missile strikes.
Ukraine has launched the largest drone offensive on Moscow since the start of the full-scale war, targeting a Russian oil refinery and causing fires and debris to rain down across the region, according to CNN. The attack, which left at least 17 people injured, is part of a broader campaign by Kyiv to target Russian energy infrastructure, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky framed it as a justified response to Russian attacks on a historic monastery in Kyiv.
Air defenses in Moscow shot down at least 194 drones bound for the Russian capital overnight, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. This is a significant increase from previous days, highlighting Ukraine's improved drone capabilities. The attack also caused flights at all major Moscow airports to be temporarily suspended, reported.
Russia retaliated with seven missiles and 239 drones, striking a private home, an energy infrastructure facility, a hangar, and oil facilities in both the Kyiv and Poltava regions, according to Ukrainian and Russian authorities. The attack on the oil refinery in Kyiv is part of a larger campaign by Ukraine to disrupt Russian energy supplies and bring the war home to Russia, according to CNN.
Local residents in Moscow reported waking up to the sound of explosions and leaving the area for safety. Maria, a 44-year-old resident of Maryino, said she packed her things and went to her mother’s dacha, a countryside residence in the suburbs of Moscow, after the attack. 'I was sure the plant would burn sooner or later. I packed my things and went to my mom’s dacha,' she said, adding that it was not the first time the Moscow oil refinery had been hit.
What's confirmed
- Ukraine has launched the largest drone offensive on Moscow since the start of the full-scale war, targeting a Russian oil refinery and causing fires and debris to rain down across the region, according to CNN. The attack, which left at least 17 people injured, is part of a broader campaign by Kyiv to target Russian energy infrastructure, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky framed it as a justified response to Russian attacks on a historic monastery in Kyiv.
- Air defenses in Moscow shot down at least 194 drones bound for the Russian capital overnight, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. This is a significant increase from previous days, highlighting Ukraine's improved drone capabilities. The attack also caused flights at all major Moscow airports to be temporarily suspended, reported.
- Russia retaliated with seven missiles and 239 drones, striking a private home, an energy infrastructure facility, a hangar, and oil facilities in both the Kyiv and Poltava regions, according to Ukrainian and Russian authorities. The attack on the oil refinery in Kyiv is part of a larger campaign by Ukraine to disrupt Russian energy supplies and bring the war home to Russia, according to CNN.
- Local residents in Moscow reported waking up to the sound of explosions and leaving the area for safety. Maria, a 44-year-old resident of Maryino, said she packed her things and went to her mother’s dacha, a countryside residence in the suburbs of Moscow, after the attack. 'I was sure the plant would burn sooner or later. I packed my things and went to my mom’s dacha,' she said, adding that it was not the first time the Moscow oil refinery had been hit.
What's still developing
- As Petrova adjusted the lace on a corset, an alarm started blaring: Russian jet-powered drones were approaching the capital.
- In Kyiv's largest art museum, Arina Petrova and her father Serhii busily applied the final touches to their mannequins, anxious that a Russian drone attack could delay her long-awaited debut.
- But with Russian jet-powered drones now crashing into Ukraine's capital on a daily basis, triggering air alerts that paralyse life in the city, the pair had more pressing concerns.
- Petrova and her 50-year-old father run their punk fashion studio out of Kharkiv, a heavily attacked city close to the Russian border.
- India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer, is among the biggest buyers of Russian oil, which is seen as helping Moscow replenish its budget since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and was hit with sweeping Western sanctions.
- India has warned the United States that new measures to levy tariffs over the purchase of Russian oil could impact bilateral ties, hours after the US Congress approved a bill that would give President Donald Trump new abilities to punish buyers of Russian oil.
- It also authorises President Donald Trump to impose stiff tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries, including India, to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, and extend sanctions on Iran.
- Last month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said authorities had detained an individual allegedly working for the Kremlin and who was plotting to murder an American-Ukrainian citizen in Warsaw.