Moscow has just been hit by the most massive Ukrainian drone strike since the war began, leaving parts of the Russian capital covered in thick columns of black smoke.
Photo by @Alex_Dram on X / Twitter ©. Used by special permission from the ground in Moscow.
- In a dramatic escalation, close to 200 Ukrainian long-range drones targeted critical infrastructure around Moscow on Thursday, completely penetrating Russia’s elite air defenses. The massive raid caused widespread chaos across the capital, forcing the immediate closure of all four major airports and canceling or delaying over 500 commercial flights. Emergency workers rushed to evacuate multiple residential high-rise blocks as fires broke out across several industrial zones.
The primary target of the operation was the massive Kapotnya oil refinery in southeast Moscow, which was hit for the third time this month. Spectacular social media footage showed the force of an explosion blowing the heavy lid of a massive oil storage tank dozens of meters into the air. Local governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed that at least 17 people were wounded in the surrounding region, while another person was killed during a separate drone strike on an oil depot in Rostov.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky openly praised the operation, calling the long-range strikes a direct retaliation for Russia’s recent brutal attacks on Kyiv.
“If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too,” Zelensky warned in a stark message to the Kremlin. He emphasized that it is now time for Moscow to accept reality and take serious diplomatic steps to end the conflict.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces intercepted nearly 1,000 drones and four cruise missiles across the country over a 24-hour period. Despite official government bans on publishing images of the damage, dozens of videos leaked online showing dozens of drones flying through broad daylight over Moscow’s outskirts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently hosting a summit with international leaders in Kazan, has not yet publicly commented on the unprecedented breach of the capital’s airspace.
