'There's smoke over your capital now': Inside Ukraine’s unprecedented drone strike that set Moscow refinery ablaze in ‘message to Putin’
Inside Ukraine’s unprecedented daylight drone strike on Moscow’s core infrastructure
Black smoke poured into the skies over southern Moscow on Thursday morning after Ukrainian drones struck one of the Russian capital’s most important oil refineries, in what has been described as the largest attack on Moscow since the start of the war.
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The daylight raid hit the Gazprom Neft-operated Moscow Oil Refinery in the Kapotnya district, around nine miles from the centre of the Russian capital, sending huge plumes of smoke over the city and triggering panic among residents who reported waking to the sound of drones and air defence systems.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defences were “repelling a large-scale attack” at around 6am local time, claiming nearly 200 drones had been intercepted as they approached the capital. But many got through.
Footage shared widely on social media showed fireballs rising from the refinery, which supplies a major share of Moscow’s fuel. The same facility had also reportedly been attacked earlier in the week, forcing disruption to operations.
A source close to the Ukrainian military told LBC the mission was intended as a direct message to Vladimir Putin: “This is no longer a war happening somewhere far from Moscow. There is black smoke over your capital now.”
Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope For Ukraine, said the strike marked a major shift in the psychological shape of the war.
“The highly visible, daytime nature of the attack fundamentally shifted the conflict's psychological landscape,” he said, adding that it had transformed “what had long been a distant front-line war into an undeniable daily reality for ordinary Muscovites.”
The refinery attack came as Ukraine has intensified long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, targeting the oil and fuel networks that help sustain Moscow’s war machine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strike was a “fully justified response” to Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and communities.
“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.
“Targets were also struck in the Rostov region and in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
“It is time the war ended, and Russia must take the necessary steps in diplomacy.”
The attack caused major disruption across Moscow. Sheremetyevo Airport, Russia’s busiest airport, said passengers were moved to safe areas as flights were suspended. Other Moscow airports also halted operations before later resuming, while Aeroflot and Rossiya cancelled more than 170 flights to and from the capital.
Mr Boyechko said the scale and timing of the raid were designed to send a message beyond the physical damage.
“By executing such a sweeping campaign in broad daylight, just hours before President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to meet with Southeast Asian leaders at a summit in Kazan, Kyiv effectively sent a high-profile message to both the Kremlin and the international community that Russia's core infrastructure is no longer out of reach,” he said.
Russian state media focused heavily on the number of drones claimed to have been shot down. But Mr Boyechko said videos posted by ordinary Russians told a different story.
“While Russian state media sought to emphasise the high number of successful aerial interceptions, viral citizen footage of massive fireballs undercutting official narratives highlighted a widening domestic fuel crisis,” he said.
Russian officials said 17 people, including two children, were wounded in the Moscow region. In the southern Rostov region, one person was killed and two others injured after strikes damaged a diesel locomotive and set buildings on fire, according to local authorities.
Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed 555 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across Russia and annexed Crimea overnight.
Ukraine has ramped up attacks on Russian refineries and supply lines in recent months, seeking to disrupt fuel production and undermine the revenues that help fund the Kremlin’s war.
The strikes have already hit facilities responsible for large parts of Russia’s gasoline output, while fuel trucks supplying occupied Crimea have also been targeted. Russian regions have begun introducing fuel rationing measures at some petrol stations, with shortages coming during the summer travel season and the agricultural farming period.
The attack came as Britain announced its biggest-ever drone package for Ukraine.
New Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis confirmed the UK will provide 150,000 drones, along with 350 air defence missiles and radar systems, by the end of the year.
The package will be funded by a £752 million tranche of a £2.26 billion loan to Kyiv, financed through the profits of seized Russian assets.
Mr Jarvis made the announcement at meetings of Nato defence ministers and the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels, where he met President Zelensky.
“This package of drones, air defence missiles and radars will help to protect innocent Ukrainian people from Putin’s barrage of drones and missiles,” Mr Jarvis said.
The support comes on top of 120,000 drones already delivered by the UK to Ukraine by the end of March.
Mr Jarvis, appointed Defence Secretary last week after John Healey resigned amid a row over the still-unpublished Defence Investment Plan, said his priorities were to strengthen Nato’s deterrence and continue backing Ukraine as it fights Russia’s full-scale invasion.
For Kyiv, the Moscow refinery strike was not just another long-range attack, it was a demonstration of reach ahead of the news Ukraine would be supplied with thousands more drones.
For Moscow, it was a deeply uncomfortable reminder that the war Vladimir Putin began more than four years ago is no longer something happening far away from the capital, it is now visible in the smoke over the city.