A Ukrainian drone seems to have sparked a fire and damaged an oil and gas facility at Moscow region’s largest refinery on Tuesday.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Special Operations Forces, and Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) were involved in the operation, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.
The Ukrainian drones struck the oil plant in Moscow and Russia’s southern Krasnodar Krai region overnight.
Vladimir Putin Back in June 2022 Russian Federation Photo.
The attacks coincided with a G7 meeting in France, with the ongoing war high on the agenda.
The drone strike targeting the refinery in the Kapotnya district of southeast Moscow set it on fire, but according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, it resulted in no casualties.
Sobyanin, posted on Russia’s state-run Maks platform, said that “one of the drones damaged a Moscow oil refinery facility.” He added that 60 drones targeting Moscow had been intercepted on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian Drone Strike Resulted In Russia Announcing Caps
Reuters reported that the strike on the refinery located in southeast Moscow damaged a primary refining facility that accounts for 53 percent of the plant’s total capacity.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency described the attack as one of the largest barrages aimed at Moscow this year, while after the attack, oil producer Tatneft announced nationwide fuel purchase caps, underscoring how effective Ukrainian drone attacks have been against Russia’s oil and gas industries.
Tatneft, Russia’s fifth-largest oil producer, set limits for consumers in Moscow to purchase only 20 liters of gasoline and 40 liters of diesel per car, and is only accepting cash.
Russian Artillery. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Zelenskyy Says It’s Payback For The Monastery Attack
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the refinery was hit from a distance of 500 km (311 miles), illustrating the reach of Ukraine’s long-range strikes.
“This is a just response to Russian strikes – and to the dragging out of a war that must be ended,” he said on “X,” formerly Twitter. The strike came one day after Russian drones struck and set on fire the 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1051.
“Russia must be forced to end its war against our people. And Ukraine’s long-range weapons are one of the important components of such pressure,” Zelensky said.
The video footage shared by President Zelenskyy showed huge fireballs reaching hundreds of feet into the air.
Russian authorities claim to have put out the fire and added that it did not affect operations at the plant. However, anonymous sources, to protect their identity, contradicted this claim.
The Gazprom Neft refinery has been targeted multiple times during the war and processed 11.6 million tons of oil in 2024, producing 2.9 million tons of gasoline and 3.2 million tons of diesel, according to Reuters.
The Moscow oil refinery was previously hit on May 16, the SBU said. The refinery produced about 40 percent of the gasoline for the Moscow area.
Russia has been unable to fully capitalize on the rise of gas and oil prices due to the war against Iran, because of the ongoing and successful strikes by Ukrainian drones against its oil infrastructure.
“Everyone’s saying the drones are hitting the refineries and nothing is getting to us,” said one driver, Darya, to a Reuters correspondent, who was so low on fuel she feared having to walk home.
Putin Can’t Protect Muscovites, Ukraine Says
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said that “Even though Putin has deployed almost all of the key air defense and missile defense systems to Moscow, this doesn’t save the Russians.
Putin is not a guarantee of safety for Muscovites,” Kovalenko added on the Telegram app.
Following the drone attack, Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, announced flight restrictions at more than a dozen airports across southern and western Russia, including all four of Moscow’s international airports: Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Zhukovsky, and Sheremetyevo.
ABC News added that flight restrictions affected other airports stretching from Sochi on the Black Sea coast to Nizhnekamsk in the Tatarstan Republic, about 750 miles from Ukraine.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
