On the night of Thursday, Ukrainian drones again attacked the Moscow Oil Refinery in the Kapotnya area. A fire broke out at the facility, and the operations of all four airports in the Russian capital were temporarily suspended.
Moscow has been attacked by Ukrainian drones for the second time in recent days, with one of the main targets once again being the Moscow Oil Refinery.
The fire at the facility was reported by the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergey Sobyanin, according to LETA. He acknowledged that the repulsion of the attack continued throughout the night and that parts of the drones managed to reach the territory of the refinery.
According to Sobyanin, air defense forces intercepted 180 drones heading towards Moscow. However, videos published on social media indicate that several fire outbreaks occurred on the territory of the oil refinery.
Thick columns of black smoke rose over the southeastern part of Moscow, visible from various districts of the city. Additionally, debris from one of the downed drones caused a fire in one of the capital's shopping complexes.
Due to the air raid alert and the threat of new strikes, the operations of all four Moscow airports—Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky—were temporarily suspended overnight.
The Moscow Oil Refinery is considered one of the key facilities in Russia's fuel infrastructure. The facility is located about 15 kilometers from the Kremlin and provides over 40% of Moscow's fuel needs.
What is important to know: this is already the second strike on the Moscow Oil Refinery in a week. The previous attack, also accompanied by a fire, occurred on Tuesday night.
Earlier, the facility was attacked on May 17. At that time, according to Russian authorities, 12 people were injured, most of whom were in the checkpoint building.
The consequences of the nighttime attack also affected the Moscow region. Governor Andrey Vorobyov reported that in the city of Zhukov, a drone hit a residential apartment building. According to him, there were no fatalities or injuries. In Elektrostal, according to official data, one woman was injured.
Simultaneously, strikes were carried out in other regions of Russia. According to Russian authorities and local sources, drones attacked facilities in the Rostov and Belgorod regions.
In the city of Gukovo, fires broke out at an oil depot and several other sites. Rostov region Governor Yuri Slyusar reported one person dead and two injured. There are also reports of damage to a diesel locomotive. In Belgorod region, a fire broke out at a military warehouse in the Shebekino area.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that 555 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight.
At the same time, Russian authorities traditionally do not report how many devices reached their targets and what damage was inflicted on facilities as a result of the attacks.
Judging by the repeated strikes on the Moscow Oil Refinery and other fuel infrastructure facilities, oil refineries remain one of the priority targets for Ukrainian long-range drones.
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