Moscow Drone Disruptions
Ukraine launches its largest drone attack on Moscow in two years, disrupting commercial flights.
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Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Moscow in two years on June 18, striking the Moscow Oil Refinery and forcing all four major airports to shut down. The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 555 Ukrainian drones overnight, with 194 intercepted on approach to the capital, according to The Kyiv Independent.
The attack came hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a coordination call with U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron following the G7 Summit in France. Zelenskyy called the strikes a "fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities," The Kyiv Independent reported.
555 Drones Hit Moscow's Key Refinery and Airports
The drone swarm, launched between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m. local time, targeted the Moscow Oil Refinery in the Kapotnya district. This was the second strike on the facility in three days — it was first hit on June 16. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that "several drones" struck the refinery, sparking massive fires visible across the southern skyline, The Moscow Times reported.
All four major Moscow airports — Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky — shut down under an emergency security protocol. More than 527 flights were canceled or delayed, making it the worst aviation disruption in Moscow's history, according to The New Voice of Ukraine. Passengers at Sheremetyevo were evacuated from aircraft onto the tarmac, Meduza reported.
Refinery Strike Threatens Moscow's Fuel Supply
The Moscow Oil Refinery, operated by Gazprom Neft, supplies between 38% and 40% of all fuel in the capital region, according to Radio Free Europe. A second strike in three days likely forces a prolonged shutdown. That could lead to fuel shortages and price spikes across Moscow.
Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil infrastructure in what Kyiv officials call "long-range sanctions" — a strategy aimed at draining the Kremlin's war chest by hitting its refined oil capacity. Before June 16, the last drone strike on this refinery was in early 2025. The current wave marks a major step up in scale. The previous largest drone attack on Moscow, in March 2026, involved just 74 drones — less than one-seventh the size of Wednesday's swarm, The Moscow Times noted.
G7 Diplomacy Set the Stage for the Strike
The timing of the attack was no accident. Just hours before the drones launched, Zelenskyy spoke with Trump and Macron following the 52nd G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France. Trump said he had "very good talks" with both Zelenskyy and Putin and that the U.S. would now shift focus to Ukraine after ending its conflict with Iran, The Guardian reported.
Macron acted as a diplomatic bridge at the summit, urging Trump to keep supporting Ukraine to shift the "balance of power" in Kyiv's favor, Politico reported. Military analysts say Ukraine is using the momentum from that diplomatic push to apply maximum pressure on Russia before any ceasefire talks begin, according to The Kyiv Independent.
Putin Faces Growing Embarrassment on the Home Front
The attack is the latest in a string of strikes inside Russia. On June 3, Ukrainian drones hit the Petersburg Oil Terminal in St. Petersburg — Putin's hometown — timed to coincide with a major economic forum there, The Guardian reported. Putin was not in Moscow during Wednesday's attack; he was traveling to Kazan for an ASEAN summit.
Sixteen people were injured in the Moscow region, including two children, The Kyiv Independent reported. Debris fell on residential areas in Zhukovsky, forcing local evacuations. The Kremlin insisted air defenses had "repelled" the attack. But independent Russian outlet Meduza described black smoke blanketing the Moscow skyline — a hard image to spin as a victory.
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