Ukraine airstrike hits Russian oil refinery, Zelenskyy says “Moscow will burn” if Putin continues war

Ukraine struck a major oil refinery in Moscow for the second time in a week and disrupted commercial flights at Moscow’s airports in one of its biggest drone attacks since. Total Russian invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, Russian officials said on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack revenge a strike that damaged a historic monastery in Kyiv this week, and said “Moscow will burn” if the Russian offensive continues.
“We don’t want this war, we never wanted it, and everyone knows it, and our partners know it,” Zelenskiy said in a voice message sent to reporters in a WhatsApp group. “But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn.”

“The important thing is that the Russian people are beginning to feel that Putin is the only one who is running this war, while ordinary people are paying for everything,” he said.

The attack came hours after Zelenskyy said he had held an “important conference call” with President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron that could “bring a big change.”

Zelenskyy said his country had received significant pledges of support from world leaders attending the G7 meeting in France, including the US.

Photos and video released by Russian media showed massive fires burning at the Moss Oil Refinery, located just 9 kilometers from the Kremlin. Dark clouds appeared over the city.

The Moscow Oil Refinery is one of Russia’s largest refineries, according to its official website, and accounts for more than a third of the vast region’s fuel market. It was last attacked by Ukrainian drones on June 16, and caught fire, but officials said the fire was quickly extinguished.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil facilities, aiming to reduce Moscow’s spending on the war and make the Russians feel the consequences of the attack.

Three Ukrainian officials familiar with the country’s intelligence probe told CBS News this week that Russia was facing a shortage of a key type of interceptor missilethanks in large part to the technological development and production of the Ukrainian drone that leads to the increase in the type of strikes carried out on Thursday.

Flights from four Moscow airports have been temporarily suspended, transport and aviation authorities said.

In the suburbs of Moscow, a pilot plane crashed into a residential building in the city of Zhukovsky, and this building was being evacuated, according to Gov. Andrei Vorobyov.

Elsewhere in the region, drone debris hit people’s houses, a car, a fitness center, an unspecified industrial area and a large shopping mall, the roof of which collapsed, Vorobyov said. Another woman was injured, he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense planes overnight shot down 555 Ukrainian drones in multiple locations, and nearly 200 were intercepted as they approached the Russian capital.

That was nearly double the number of drones Russia launched into Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine’s military.

The attack was the latest embarrassment for Russian President Vladimir Putin after a Ukrainian airliner attacked his home city of St.

Putin on Thursday was in Kazan, 430 miles east of Moscow, hosting leaders of the Southeast Asian Nations as Russia seeks to strengthen business and other ties with nations of the regional bloc.

“This is a fitting response to the Russian attacks on our cities and communities, and another important result of our military operations against Russian military bases,” Ukrainian Zelenskyy said on social media. “It is time for the war to end, and Russia must take the necessary steps to address it.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told X: “One of the most popular questions from Muscovites this morning is ‘What’s going on?’ I can answer. Your country has started a war of violence against ours. It has been killing our people for years. Now that you know what’s going on, ask Putin when he plans to end it. “

As well as receiving promises of more diplomatic and military aid from Western allies at the G7 summit, Ukraine has recently gained momentum on the battlefield against Russia’s large military because of its high-tech aircraft, Western officials and analysts say.

As well as disrupting Russian oil production, long-range drone strikes are choking Russian supply lines into populated areas of Ukraine.

Macron said the G7 summit is “very important for Ukraine” because its supporters – especially the United States – have vowed to help it, although the French president did not give details. The US under Trump has cut aid to Ukraine, leaving the Europeans as the main providers of military and financial aid. Trump and Zelenskyy have had a strained relationship at times.

“America is with us in Ukraine, that is very important,” Macron said.

“And now we will continue to move forward to help Ukraine to resist” and to build “its defense capacity and the ability to resist attacks,” Macron told reporters as he and Trump left the Palace of Versailles near Paris.