Russia Acknowledges Major Drone Attack on Moscow Refinery, Vows Continued Strikes on Ukraine

The Kremlin admitted on Friday that a large-scale Ukrainian drone assault caused a fire at an oil refinery in Moscow the previous day, noting that measures are underway to manage the aftermath.

When asked if President Vladimir Putin had viewed footage of the refinery fire, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters they should instead watch images from Ukrainian cities targeted by Russian forces. According to Reuters, he added that Russian strikes would persist.

Moscow experienced a broad drone attack on Thursday night, which resulted in several projectiles hitting an oil refinery, the city’s mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported.

This announcement coincided with President Putin hosting several Asian leaders starting Wednesday evening for the two-day Russia-ASEAN summit in Kazan, central Russia, according to Agence France-Presse.

In a Telegram post, Sobyanin stated that air defense forces continue to repel a large-scale attack and that a few drones managed to reach the MNPZ oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest, located in Moscow.

He later clarified that Russian air defenses destroyed 43 drones overnight.

The MNPZ refinery, operated by Gazprom, is situated in the Kapotnya district in southeast Moscow and supplies over one-third of the capital’s fuel needs, particularly for its airports, according to the refinery’s website.

This refinery had also been targeted by a wide drone attack on Tuesday.

The assault on Wednesday night prompted an air alert at Sheremetyevo Airport, one of Moscow’s main airports, leading to the evacuation of passengers, crew, and staff from terminals and planes to secure shelters.

Shortly before 5 a.m. GMT, the airport administration announced via statement that these measures were lifted and that operations were gradually returning to normal.

In the Moscow region, the attack caused damage to a residential building and a shopping center, though no injuries were reported, according to regional governor Andrei Vorobyov.

Moscow continues to carry out near-daily strikes on Ukrainian territory more than four years after the conflict began with Russia's invasion, amid ongoing diplomatic deadlock over a resolution to end the war.

Conversely, Ukraine has intensified attacks within Russian territory, including deep strikes targeting fuel transportation and storage facilities, aiming to undermine Moscow’s capacity to finance its military operations.