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Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Moscow since the start of a full-scale invasion of Russia, hitting a major oil refinery in the Russian capital and sending thick black smoke over parts of the city, according to Russian officials and multiple reports.
The Moscow oil refinery in the Kapotnya district, one of the capital region’s major fuel facilities, was hit overnight Thursday, the second strike reported at the site in three days. Video circulating online showed large flames and black smoke billowing from the facility, while Russian officials said air defenses intercepted waves of incoming drones.
Kiev says its attacks inside Russia are proof it is turning the tide on war — a message echoed by President Volodymyr Zelensky to President Donald Trump and other G7 leaders at a summit in France this week.
The latest attacks underline a new phase of the war, with Ukraine increasingly able to hit high-value targets inside Russia, while Moscow struggles to prevent drones from reaching politically sensitive and economically important locations near the capital.
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Smoke and flames rise over Moscow after a Ukrainian drone strike on June 18, 2026, which hit the Kapotanya oil refinery and other targets in the Russian capital. (East2West)
“This is absolute hell, I’ve never felt such terror,” a Moscow resident said after the attack, according to East2West News.
According to the outlet, another resident asked: “Why won’t this crazy person stop his crazy and meaningless war and end the death and destruction?”
The East2West news agency also reported that heavy security forces were deployed around the Kremlin, Red Square was cordoned off and machine-gunners were deployed on the towers, ramparts and near the mausoleum of Bolshevik founder Vladimir Lenin.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defense forces shot down more than 130 drones approaching the city. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that more than 550 Ukrainian drones were intercepted in several areas overnight, although the battlefield claims from either side could not be independently verified.
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The Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya burns after being hit during a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian capital on June 18, 2026. (East2West)
The attack disrupted daily life across Moscow, leading to temporary flight suspensions at major airports and traffic restrictions near the refinery. Russian officials said debris also fell near the Sadovod shopping center, damaging a building. The governor of the Moscow region said 16 people were injured in the widespread attack.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha mocked the confusion in Moscow, writing on X: “One of the most popular questions asked by Muscovites this morning is ‘What’s going on?’ I can answer. Your country started an aggressive war against us. It has been killing our people for years. Now that you know what’s going on, ask Putin when he plans to end it.”
The attack appears to expose weaknesses in Moscow’s highly publicized air defense network, deepening the war in the Russian capital, while the Kremlin continues long-range missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.
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Explosions are seen in Moscow following a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian capital, including the Kapotanya oil refinery, on June 18, 2026. (East2West)
The Kapotanya refinery is a strategically important target. According to Reuters, an earlier Ukrainian drone strike in recent days damaged part of the refinery, and some operations had to be halted.
East2West reported that the refinery supplies 40% of Moscow’s fuel market and 70% of the gasoline and aviation fuel needs of the surrounding region.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian energy infrastructure in an effort to weaken Moscow’s war machine and increase the domestic costs of war inside Russia. Kiev has described such attacks as part of its campaign of “long-range sanctions” against Russia’s oil and military infrastructure.
The attack on Moscow came as President Vladimir Putin hosted leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc in Kazan, Russia. Ukraine also reportedly attacked targets linked to Russia’s supply routes, including road and rail infrastructure in occupied Crimea. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said secession of Crimea is a key military objective as Kiev seeks to weaken Russia’s grip on the peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine. Ukrainian officials reported Russian attacks on energy and oil facilities in the Poltava region and near Kiev.
Russia is moving Tu-95MS strategic bombers across the country, raising concerns that Moscow could be preparing for another major attack on Ukraine in the coming days, East2West reported.
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Emergency services workers work to extinguish a vehicle fire following a Russian drone strike in the Kiev region of Ukraine on May 5, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)
Zelensky has said the war could end if Putin agreed to genuine peace talks, while accusing Moscow of prolonging the conflict and using negotiations as a pretext for continued attacks.
Reuters contributed to this report.
