Russian oil refinery on fire after barrage of Ukrainian drones strike Moscow

[riversedge]

Source: the guardian



Scale of long range-attack catches Muscovites by surprise, prompting panicked messages on social media

Peter Beaumont in Pavlograd and Warren Murray

Thu 18 Jun 2026 03.30 EDT


Ukrainian drones have hit several locations across Moscow, including setting an ⁠oil refinery on fire, sending out flames and towering plumes ⁠of smoke over the city and forcing the capital’s airports to suspend flights.

The scale of the long-range attack, apparently designed to shut down operations at the key oil refinery in the Kapotno area, caught most Muscovites by surprise in a city that does not typically warn residents with air raid alarms, and prompted panicked messages on social media.

Footage posted online showed three plumes of smoke rising from the refinery. The strike was the second in two days on the facility, in what the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, then called “a just response to Russian strikes”.


The Ukrainian strikes came after Kyiv was hit by a major strike of ballistic missiles and drones, in a marked escalation of the air war between Moscow and Kyiv. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had warned of impending “systemic strikes” on Ukraine.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/18/moscow-oil-refinery-on-fire-ukraine-drone-stikes?CMP=share_btn_url

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UNITED24 Media @United24media
·
2h
⚡️ Zelenskyy on Moscow oil refinery attack: "This is a fully justified response to
Russian attacks on our cities and communities."

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Scale of long range-attack catches Muscovites by surprise, prompting panicked messages on social media

Thu 18 Jun 2026 03.30 EDT

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

— (@oceancalm.bsky.social) 2026-06-18T09:30:07.941Z

?width=740&dpr=2&s=none&crop=none

High-rise building on fire
Building on fire following Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow on Thursday.
Photograph: Social media/Reuters

[riversedge]

1. WHOW!! "The moment a storage tank at the Moscow oil refinery was hit: the blast blew the tank's lid off."

The moment a storage tank at the Moscow oil refinery was hit: the blast blew the tank's lid off.

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[riversedge]

2. "As bad as things are in Moscow at this hour, it's about to get much worse, as crude oil filled skies are about to rain

As bad as things are in Moscow at this hour, it's about to get much worse, as
crude oil filled skies are about to rain on the city's 13 million population.

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[riversedge]

3. Zelensky: "If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too"

Anton Gerashchenko
@Gerashchenko_en
·
3h
What a beautiful morning in Moscow!
Slava 🇺🇦
@Heroiam_Slava
·
3h
💥Explosion rips the hatch clean off as Ukrainian drone strikes fuel tank at Moscow’s Kapotnya Oil Refinery.
0:06 / 0:10







Visegrád 24
@visegrad24
·
46m
Zelensky: "If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too"

The latest attacks on Russia were a response to Russian strikes on Ukraine, in particular on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

“If Putin does not want to end this war, wants to continue, we will not sit quietly. We will respond.”

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Link to tweet

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[-misanthroptimist]

4. In the words of Nelson Muntz

HA-HA!

[3Hotdogs]

6. The tank top - - a storage container in Newark, NJ blew up around 1950. The top flew in the air just like the one in

the Russian attack.

[orangecrush]

5. ...

[DoBW]

7. F*ck Putin

may he "fall" out a window

[riversedge]

8. "Total chaos in the sky over Moscow A new video from this morning shows how Russian air defense is completely failing t

Total chaos in the sky over Moscow

A new video from this morning shows how Russian air defense is completely failing to deal with Ukrainian drones.

Anti-aircraft missiles fly in different directions, completely missing the targets.

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[OnlinePoker]

9. Putin has ringed Moscow with the country's most advanced air defense systems

That Ukraine can fly right through them shows how ineffectual they really are. Unfortunately, Putin won't get the message. There was a report yesterday that they have literally been feeding him an altered version of the news daily that shows Russian military advances and how everything is positive in the country. I wonder if the same thing was done to Tsar Nicholas II before the revolution.

[riversedge]

10. .........People notice their city burning...........

Yes, they do. Putin's war is coming to them--the Russian citizens






‪Nicholas Grossman‬
‪@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social‬
· 39m
Ukraine's strikes on Moscow are further evidence of Ukraine's world-class drone development, and raise the costs of the war for Russia in ways its propagandists can't hide. People notice their city burning.
This ends when Russia's war machine collapses or the Kremlin decides it's no longer worth it.

Ukraine's strikes on Moscow are further evidence of Ukraine's world-class drone development, and raise the costs of the war for Russia in ways its propagandists can't hide. People notice their city burning.
This ends when Russia's war machine collapses or the Kremlin decides it's no longer worth it.

— Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) 2026-06-18T12:27:35.289Z

[riversedge]

11. Obsolete russian air defence rockets targeting their own people. 🤡🇷🇺

@OnerealVlad
Obsolete russian air defence rockets targeting their own people.

🤡🇷🇺
Quote
Jay in Kyiv
@JayinKyiv
·
7h
Russian air defenses too busy targeting Moscow's apartment buildings to worry about Ukraine's non-stop drone barrage.

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[riversedge]

12. I love this one ❤️🇺🇦🇨🇦 we have lift off 🚀🤣

I love this one ❤️🇺🇦🇨🇦 we have lift off 🚀🤣

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