Ukraine hits major Russian oil refinery in Moscow region causing major fire in plant

New Delhi: Amid worsening conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ukraine has attacked a Moscow oil refinery – Kapotnya – owned by Russia’s Gazpromneft, the Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, announced. The Gazpromneft oil refinery serves the Moscow region.

Announcing the attack on the refinery on Telegram, he said at least 60 drones had been shot down. However, he added that the refinery was damaged but there were no casualties. Emergency services were working at the place of the incident, the mayor said.

According to Sobyanin, for the past 24 hours, “enemy drones” had continued to attack Moscow. Reports claim that the refinery hit is only 10 miles or about 16km from Kremlin.

Following the attack, flights were suspended at all four major Moscow airports—Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky.

According to the latest available data quoted by Reuters, the plant, the biggest in the ​Moscow region, processed 11.6 million tons (10.52 million metric tonnes) of oil, producing 2.9 million tons (2.63084 million metric tonnes) of petrol and ​3.2 million tons (about 2.9 million metric tonnes) of diesel in ​2024, the latest available data.

Ukraine has doubled its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent times, forcing Moscow to slash fuel quality, lowering environmental specifications for the domestic market. This allows them to sell gasoline and diesel domestically with higher levels of sulphur and other pollutants.

The intent behind hitting Russia’s energy infrastructure using long-range drone attacks along with other industrial targets is to weaken Moscow’s ability to carry out attacks against Ukraine.

Ukraine has reportedly doubled its drone strikes on Russian refineries since the start of 2026, leading to a full or partial shutdown of oil processing and a decline in production of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.

Only days ago, Ukrainian drones targeted several industrial facilities across Russia in an overnight attack. Russia’s defence ministry said a total of 249 aerial objects were shot down across the country.

During these attacks, in one instance in southern Moscow, the debris from a downed drone fell onto the site of a chemical plant.

Russia, on the other hand, has kept up its attacks on Ukraine, using drones and missiles. The most recent Russian strikes targeted a religious site in Ukraine, killing 11 and setting the historic cathedral in Kyiv ablaze.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had on May 10 said that the Ukraine conflict was coming to an end. Russia and Ukraine are unable to reach the end of the conflict as Ukraine deems Russia’s terms unacceptable.

Recently, Putin acknowledged that the recent surge in Ukrainian attacks is resulting in damage to the Russian economy. Speaking to Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency, Putin had said, “As for the economy: they are certainly causing us damage, but we are recovering quickly.” He added that while the strikes were meant to “sow confusion” in the society, they will not succeed in either dividing or causing economic damage to Russia.