Kyiv attributed the strike to a reprisal for Russia’s escalating air assault, occurring a day after drones damaged a monastery complex listed by UNESCO in the capital.
Russian officials confirmed the attack inflicted damage on a site in the Kapotnya district of southeast Moscow, but no injuries were reported.
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The mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, announced the event on the state-operated Maks platform, stating that «one of the drones damaged a Moscow oil refinery facility» and affirmed that no casualties occurred. He further noted that 60 drones targeting Moscow were intercepted on Tuesday alone — an attack the TASS news agency described as among the largest to hit the Russian capital this year.
Authorities restricted traffic around the refinery following the incident.
Zelensky confirmed Ukraine’s involvement, presenting the operation as a demonstration of long-range strike capabilities. «This time, the Moscow region experienced Ukraine’s long-range reach. An oil refinery was targeted from 500 kilometres away,» he posted on social media, sharing footage that seems to depict a drone flying over residential areas before hitting an industrial site near a red-and-white chimney.
«This represents a justified retaliation for Russian attacks — as well as a response to the protraction of a war that must end,» the Ukrainian president stated.
The attack followed reports from Kyiv that Russia launched over 600 drones and 70 missiles across Ukraine, causing at least 11 deaths and damaging a historic Orthodox monastery in the capital.
Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra — recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site — suffered damage to the roof and dome of the Dormition Cathedral. Zelensky described this as «one of Russia’s gravest offenses against Christian heritage to date.» Ukrainian security forces recovered remnants of at least two Geran-2 drones at the site. Russia denied responsibility, attributing the damage to a US-made Patriot missile but provided no evidence to back this claim.
Since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, Russia has maintained almost daily air raids on Ukraine. Recently, Kyiv intensified counterattacks on Russian soil, repeatedly striking oil refineries and export facilities to diminish the fossil fuel income that supports Moscow’s war operations.