Ukraine attacked a major oil refinery near Moscow overnight into Tuesday, sparking a major fire and sending dark smoke trailing into the sky above the Russian capital in the latest example of Ukraine striking vital oil infrastructure far across the border.
The attack comes a day after a massive Russian aerial assault on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, which damaged a famed cathedral and monastery, causing an international outcry.
At least 11 people were killed across Ukraine, officials said, as many of the world’s most influential economies prepared to meet to discuss a ceasefire deal for the long-running conflict at the G7 summit in France this week.
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Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the Ukrainian operation and said the drones had traveled 500 kilometers (310 miles) to strike the Moscow Oil Refinery in a “just response” to Russian bombardment of Ukraine.
The Moscow Oil Refinery is the largest facility in the region, providing around 40 percent of the petroleum demand for the area around the capital, according to Ukrainian media.
Russian air defenses intercepted 60 Ukrainian drones over the Russian capital overnight into Tuesday, Moscow mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, said on social media.
One of the drones damaged an unspecified facility within the Moscow Oil Refinery, Sobyanin said. No one was reported injured.
Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian official, said a unit used to process oil was set alight.
The overnight attacks were one of Ukraine’s largest drone strikes on the Russian capital this year, Russia‘s Tass state news agency reported.
“This time, the Moscow region felt the reach of Ukraine’s long-range capabilities,” Zelensky said.
“Now the question is whether the Moscow refinery will be suspended or there will be a critical loss of capacity,” Kovalenko said.
Kyiv has persistently targeted Russia’s oil refineries, pipelines and storage sites with drones capable of flying hundreds of miles in an attempt to cut off vital funds for the Kremlin’s war effort.
Russia is a major oil exporter,and its ability to produce crude oil has been slashed by hundreds of thousands of barrels per day even as the Iran war and chaos in the Gulf drove up demand for Russian oil.
Russia’s energy ministry said earlier this month that Ukrainian airstrikes had caused “temporary difficulties with fuel supplies” in several parts of southern Russia and the government had set up a new task force to smooth over supply problems.
Ukraine’s SBU internal security service, said its drone forces, special operations forces and military intelligence operatives were involved in the attack, Zelensky said.