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

0:56 Ukrainian drones hit oil refinery and residential building in Moscow – video Russian oil refinery on fire after barrage of Ukrainian drones strike Moscow Scale of long range-attack catches Muscovites by surprise, prompting panicked messages on social media Europe live – latest updates Ukrainian drones have hit several locations across Moscow in Kyiv’s biggest air raid on the city in two years, setting a major ⁠oil refinery on fire and forcing evacuations at the country’s largest airport. The Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskky, described the attack as a response to Russia’s striking of a historic Kyiv monastery complex earlier this week 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. The Russian media outlet RIA Novosti said the attack on energy facilities in Moscow was the biggest in two years. Footage posted online showed three plumes of smoke rising from the Kapotno 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 refinery, one of Moscow’s most important energy facilities, supplies up to 40% of the capital’s petrol and about 50% of its diesel fuel. Russia said its ⁠air defence systems ​had intercepted and ⁠destroyed 555 Ukrainian drones over ⁠multiple ​regions ‌overnight. The number actually shot down could not be independently confirmed. President Vladimir Putin is in Kazan, 700km (430 miles) east of Moscow, hosting leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as Russia seeks to bolster business and other ties. View image in fullscreen Building on fire following Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow on Thursday. Photograph: Social media/Reuters Kyiv was this week 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. Five people were killed in Kyiv, and the Dormition Cathedral in the Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, a Unesco world heritage site and one of Ukraine’s most significant religious and cultural sites, was badly damaged on Monday. Footage of the Ukrainian weapons used in the latest Moscow strikes appeared to show the use of Ukrainian Bars hybrid drone-cruise missiles, first used last year. They had been believed to have a range of 600-800km, designed for precision targeting, but their use against Moscow would suggest a longer range. Ukraine is rapidly catching up with Russia in its ability to mass-produce long-range strike weapons. Kyiv has stepped up its drone strikes on Russia in recent months, hitting oil refineries that fund Moscow’s war chest, as diplomatic talks on ending the conflict remain stalled. Sergei S