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Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Moscow in years on Thursday, striking a major oil refinery for the second time this week, wounding at least 17 people, including two children, forcing the evacuation of passengers at the country's busiest airport and sending thick columns of black smoke over the Russian capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the strikes "a fully justified response" to Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and warned that escalation would continue if the war did not end.
"We do not want this war and never did," Zelenskyy said in a voice message to journalists.
"But if Ukraine is going to burn, your Moscow will burn too," he added.
The Moscow Oil Refinery, located on the southeastern edge of the city approximately 15 kilometers from the Kremlin, was set ablaze by drone impacts, sending thick black smoke and occasional flames over its red-and-white smokestacks.
Sooty rain fell on cars in the capital, according to local video footage.
The refinery produces more than a third of the Moscow region's fuel, according to its official website.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defenses shot down more than 190 drones over the city but confirmed that several had reached the refinery.
He later said the fire at the facility had been "largely localized" and that no injuries had been reported at the refinery itself.
A drone also struck a residential building in the town of Zhukovsky in the greater Moscow region, according to regional Gov. Andrey Vorobyov. Drone debris sparked a fire at a shopping center and caused damage to a sports hall and industrial facility in Lyubertsi. Vorobyov said 17 people were wounded across the Moscow region.
All four Moscow airports were temporarily closed during the attack. Sheremetyevo, Russia's busiest, evacuated passengers to safe locations before reopening around 11 a.m. local time.
Approximately 120 flights were canceled and more than 160 delayed, affecting around 8,000 passengers, according to Russia's Tour Operators Association.
Zelenskyy described the drone campaign as Ukraine's "long-range sanctions" targeting facilities that sustain Russia's war effort and fund Moscow's military budget.
"Last night, our long-range sanctions once again reached the Moscow region, for the second time this week, the Moscow oil refinery was hit," he said in a statement on X, crediting the Security Service of Ukraine, the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Special Operations Forces, Defense Intelligence and Ukraine's missile brigade.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha addressed Muscovites directly. "Your country started a war of aggression against ours. For years, it has been killing our people," Sybiha posted on X.
"Now that you know what's going on, ask Putin when he is planning to end it," he added. In a separate post he said, "In Moscow, everything is going according to plan. Not Russia’s plan, though."
Zelenskyy said the attack was also designed to signal to ordinary Russians that the war's costs fall on them, not only on Ukraine.
"The main thing is that the people of Russia begin to feel that it is one man, Putin, who is waging this war, while ordinary people pay the price for everything," he told reporters.
The attack came as Russian President Vladimir Putin was hosting leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Kazan, approximately 700 kilometers east of Moscow.
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore sent their prime ministers, the Philippines sent President Ferdinand Marcos.
Putin did not address the strikes in his opening remarks to the forum and posed for photographs with visiting leaders in the hours after the attack.
The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses overnight shot down 555 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions, roughly double the number of drones Russia launched at Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.
Russia also struck Ukraine during the same period. One person was killed and nine wounded in a Russian attack on Dnipro, according to the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration. In Sumy, two Russian glide bombs killed a 64-year-old man, the regional military head said.
Thursday's strike was the second time this month that Ukraine launched a major attack during an international summit hosted by Russia. Earlier in June, Ukraine struck Saint Petersburg while Putin hosted a landmark economic forum in the city.
The attack followed Zelenskyy's participation in the G7 summit, where he said he had received pledges of further military and diplomatic support. He was due in Brussels later Thursday for talks with NATO and European Union leaders, including discussions on a potential continental ballistic missile defense system.
Zelenskyy said he accepted an unconditional ceasefire proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, but that Putin has refused. Trump said this week that Moscow should "make a deal" to end the war.
"It is time the war ended, and Russia must take the necessary steps in diplomacy," Zelenskyy said.
Moscow's fuel supply was unaffected by the refinery strike, the city government said, with all petrol stations operating normally.
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