{"id":7410,"date":"2026-06-19T09:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T06:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=7410"},"modified":"2026-06-19T09:25:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T06:25:27","slug":"ukraine-drone-strike-hits-moscow-refinery-disrupts-flights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/ukraine-drone-strike-hits-moscow-refinery-disrupts-flights\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine Drone Strike Hits Moscow Refinery, Disrupts Flights"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to New York Post<\/em>, the overnight assault sent plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky as Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles penetrated Russian air defenses and hit the Moscow Oil Refinery on the southeastern edge of the city.<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Zelensky<\/strong>, Ukraine’s president, confirmed the strike represented the second attack on the Moscow facility within a single week. The 48-year-old leader took to social media to announce that Ukrainian forces had also struck targets in the Rostov region and in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.<\/p>\n

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin<\/strong> acknowledged that several drones struck the refinery complex. Russia’s Transport Ministry confirmed that commercial aviation operations were halted at four Moscow airports during the assault. The attack occurred while Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/strong> was hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kazan, approximately 430 miles east of the capital.<\/p>\n

Video footage released by Zelensky captured dramatic moments including a massive tank cover being hurled hundreds of feet into the air by explosions. Additional recordings showed multiple impacts accompanied by thunderous detonations across Moscow.<\/p>\n

Russia Claims Mass Interception<\/h2>\n

Russia’s Defense Ministry asserted it destroyed 555 Ukrainian drones while intercepting 200 targeting Moscow specifically, as New York Post<\/em> reports. However, the exact number of drones that breached Russian defensive systems remained unclear.<\/p>\n

Zelensky made clear the strikes would persist as long as Russia continued its attacks on Ukrainian territory. Speaking to reporters Thursday, he issued a stark warning: But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn.<\/em><\/p>\n

Retaliation for Monastery Attack<\/h2>\n

Thursday’s operation came as direct retaliation for Monday’s Russian strike on a millennium-old monastery in Kyiv that claimed at least 10 lives. Zelensky defended the assault as fully justified, describing it as an appropriate response to Russian aggression against Ukrainian cities and a strategic blow against infrastructure sustaining Russia’s military machine.<\/p>\n

Despite the escalating drone warfare, Zelensky renewed calls for diplomatic resolution. He urged Moscow to take necessary diplomatic steps to end the conflict, noting that Western partners had recognized the precision and effectiveness of Ukraine’s mid-range and long-range strike capabilities.<\/p>\n

G7 Summit and Trump Discussions<\/h2>\n

The Ukrainian president had just returned from \u00c9vian-les-Bains, France, where he participated in the G7 Summit and held discussions with European leaders and President Donald Trump<\/strong> regarding Ukraine’s war effort.<\/p>\n

Trump, following a bilateral meeting with Zelensky, stated that Russia should pursue a negotiated settlement, noting both nations have suffered tremendous casualties. The American president, alongside French Prime Minister Emanuel Macron<\/strong> and Zelensky, held a one-hour trilateral meeting at the summit’s conclusion.<\/p>\n

Zelensky subsequently told a Reuters-hosted forum that the G7 leaders reached unanimity that Russia is not winning the war. He characterized Trump as very positive about providing additional missile assistance to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Trump indicated willingness to reinstate sanctions on Russia, while Zelensky pressed for peace negotiations to commence before winter arrives.<\/p>\n

Kremlin Response<\/h2>\n

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov<\/strong> told Russian state television that Trump had likely been influenced by harmful ideas during the G7 gathering, claiming European leaders were exercising an unhelpful influence on the American president.<\/p>\n

Ushakov also stated that Thursday’s drone attack diminished prospects for near-term talks between Zelensky and Putin.<\/p>\n

With information from New York Post<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukraine launched one of its largest drone strikes since Russia’s 2022 invasion, hitting a Moscow oil refinery and temporarily closing four airports in apparent retaliation for Russian attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[2560,795,7366,7390,214,211,229],"nfg_topic":[135],"class_list":["post-7410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-drone-strike","tag-moscow","tag-oil-refinery","tag-rostov-region","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-volodymyr-zelensky","nfg_topic-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7644,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7410\/revisions\/7644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7410"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=7410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}