Ukraine launches largest drone attack on Moscow in years

Ukraine struck Moscow’s Kapotnya oil refinery and forced all four city airports to suspend flights in what TASS called the biggest attack on the capital since the full-scale war began.cnn
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted 555 drones overnight, with nearly 200 shot down approaching Moscow; 16 people were injured, according to regional officials.usnews
President Zelensky called the strikes “a fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities,” as Russia simultaneously hit Kyiv with missiles early Thursday.meduza

Ukraine Launches Largest Drone Attack on Moscow, Striking Oil Refinery and Grounding Flights

Ukraine carried out its most extensive drone offensive against Moscow in at least two years on Thursday, hitting the Russian capital’s oil refinery for the second time this week and temporarily shutting down all four of the city’s major airports, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials.

Massive Aerial Assault

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 555 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions overnight into Thursday, with nearly 200 of those shot down as they approached Moscow. Despite the interceptions, several drones breached defenses and struck the Moscow Oil Refinery in the Kapotnya district on the southeastern edge of the city, sparking fires and sending thick black smoke into the sky.nypost

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that drones hit the refinery and that air defense systems had downed approximately 180 to 194 drones targeting the capital over an eight-hour period. The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said 16 people were injured in the attack.usnews

The strike marked the second time this week the Kapotnya refinery — Moscow’s largest, located roughly 15 kilometers from the Kremlin — was hit by Ukrainian drones, following an attack on June 16 that also set the facility ablaze.wtop

Airports Paralyzed, Flights Disrupted

All four of Moscow’s airports — Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky — temporarily suspended arrivals and departures during the assault, according to Russian aviation authorities. More than 260 flights were delayed or cancelled across the four airports, according to reports citing the Baza Telegram channel.meduza

Russia’s state news agency TASS described the offensive as the most substantial attack on Moscow since the start of the full-scale war.cnn

Zelensky Calls Strikes ‘Justified’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky characterized the drone campaign as retaliation for Russia’s ongoing aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities. “This is a fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities, and another important result of our warriors’ work against facilities that sustain Russia’s war machine,” Zelensky said in a post.meduza

The attacks came as Russia simultaneously struck Kyiv with missiles early Thursday, with explosions heard across the Ukrainian capital, according to Reuters. In the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, one person was killed in a drone strike, officials said.reuters