{"id":506536,"date":"2026-06-18T18:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/506536\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T18:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:27:10","slug":"if-ukraine-burns-your-moscow-will-burn-zelenskiy-issues-threat-as-kyiv-strikes-russia-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/506536\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn\u2019: Zelenskiy issues threat as Kyiv strikes Russia \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian<\/a> drones have hit several locations across Moscow in Kyiv\u2019s biggest air raid on the city since the start of Russia<\/a>\u2019s full-scale invasion, setting a major \u2060oil refinery on fire and forcing evacuations at the country\u2019s largest airport.<\/p>\n

Volodymyr Zelenskiy<\/a> described the attack as a response to Russia\u2019s strike on a historic Kyiv monastery complex earlier this week. \u201cWe do not want this war and never did,\u201d the Ukrainian president said in a voice message to journalists. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut if Ukraine is going to burn, your Moscow will burn too … It is time to end the aggression, time to end this war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s foreign minister in turn announced it would launch huge \u201cgroup strikes\u201d on Ukraine \u201con a regular basis\u201d in response to the Moscow raid. <\/p>\n

The scale of Ukraine\u2019s long-range attack, apparently designed to shut down operations at the key oil refinery in the Kapotnya area, caught most people by surprise in a city that does not typically warn residents with air raid alarms and prompted panicked messages on social media.<\/p>\n

According to reports, many residents in Moscow\u2019s outlying suburbs learned of the attack only when they saw drones flying overhead. \u201cNo SMS at all, no sirens. All the information is in local chats \u2013 there\u2019s a lot more there than on TV,\u201d a Moscow resident said in a message to the independent, foreign-based Russian news site Meduza.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0How significant was Ukraine\u2019s drone attack on Moscow?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Footage posted online showed three plumes of smoke rising from the Kapotnya refinery. The strike was the second in two days on the facility, which local authorities claimed injured at least 17 people, including two children. The refinery, one of Moscow\u2019s most important energy facilities, supplies up to 40 per cent of the capital\u2019s petrol and about 50 per cent of its diesel fuel.<\/p>\n

Russia said its \u2060air defence systems \u200bintercepted and \u2060destroyed 555 Ukrainian drones over \u2060multiple \u200bregions \u200covernight. The number actually shot down could not be independently confirmed.<\/p>\n

\"RussianRussian president Vladimir Putin arrives for a meeting with Laos’ prime minister on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN summit in the city of Kazan on Thursday. Photograph: Anastasia Barashkova\/Pool\/AFP via Getty <\/p>\n

Russian president Vladimir Putin<\/a> is in Kazan, 4700km east of Moscow, hosting leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as Russia seeks to bolster business and other ties.<\/p>\n

Kyiv was hit this week by a major strike of ballistic missiles and drones in a marked escalation of the air war. Putin had warned of impending \u201csystemic strikes\u201d on Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The Moscow attack came hours after Zelenskiy said he had held \u201can important co-ordination call\u201d with the presidents of the US and France and had won vital pledges of further support from this week\u2019s international G7 summit.<\/p>\n

European leaders are optimistic about Ukraine\u2019s prospects. In advance of a summit on Thursday evening in Brussels, the European Commission<\/a> president, Ursula von der Leyen<\/a>, said the tide was turning: \u201cWe see Ukraine is holding the line, even partially regaining territory,\u201d she said, adding that Russia was struggling and imposing \u201ca digital Iron Curtain on their people\u201d \u2013 a reference to internet censorship.<\/p>\n

\"FromFrom left: European Council president Ant\u00f3nio Costa, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen arrive to attend the EU Summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday. Photograph: Nicolas Tucat\/AFP via Getty <\/p>\n

Arriving in Brussels for talks with EU<\/a> leaders, Zelenskiy said it was \u201creally a great moment for Ukraine\u201d, hailing the decision to start formal membership talks with the bloc earlier this week. He said he hoped they could discuss further support for Ukraine to pressure Putin to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n

The European Council president, Ant\u00f3nio Costa, was reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday to have contacted the Kremlin in an attempt to engage Putin in discussions about ending the war. A spokesperson for Costa has not commented.<\/p>\n

An EU official told the Guardian that in the past few weeks \u201cbrief contacts at diplomatic level\u201d had been made \u201cto open communication channels, but nothing was discussed on substance\u201d. The official said that in any future scenario \u201cthe EU has specific interests that will need to be defended, therefore it is important to have established diplomatic channels with Russia\u201d.<\/p>\n

Zelenskiy was expected to discuss with European leaders the possibility of a system to defend against ballistic missiles. Russia has repeatedly struck Ukraine with those types of missiles, which air defences struggle to counter.<\/p>\n

Footage of the 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 about 600-800km, designed for precision targeting, but their use against Moscow would suggest a longer range.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s war chest, as diplomatic talks on ending the conflict remain stalled.<\/p>\n

At least seven drones appear to have beaten Russia\u2019s air defences, including one that appeared to hit a high-rise building in Zhukovsky district. Traffic was halted \u200bon Moscow\u2019s ring road near \u2060the refinery, the broadcaster RIA \u200bcited \u200cthe \u200binterior ministry \u200bas saying, while air traffic was disrupted at Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky airports.<\/p>\n

\"BlackBlack smoke rises from the area of a Moscow oil refinery on the southeastern outskirts of city on Thursday. Photograph: AFP via Getty <\/p>\n

Footage posted on social media appeared to show a Russian portable air defence system operator attempting to shoot down a Ukrainian strike drone moments before it struck the oil refinery.<\/p>\n

A strike on Tuesday was understood to have already halted operations at the Kapotnya refinery, adding to widespread damage to Russian energy facilities and extending a \u200bfuel crisis deeper into the country.<\/p>\n

Russia, the world\u2019s third biggest oil producer and \u200ca major oil and fuel exporter, is to import fuel by sea this month as it seeks to manage a shortage after extensive Ukrainian drone attacks on its refineries.<\/p>\n

Russian hardliners called for Moscow to retaliate, with some urging the Kremlin to consider using nuclear weapons against Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat else has to happen before we start fighting for real?\u201d wrote the ultraconservative billionaire Konstantin Malofeev on Telegram. \u201cWhy aren\u2019t we using the nuclear weapons that our ancestors created and stockpiled through the efforts of the entire country precisely for moments like this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrey Gurulyov, a retired lieutenant general and state duma deputy, called for Russia to \u201cstrike the enemy mercilessly\u201d in response to the attack. \u201cWe need to strengthen our air defence system, but most importantly, we need to hit the enemy,\u201d he told RTVI. \u201cHit the enemy mercilessly, without overthinking it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia launched more than 200 drones and multiple ballistic missiles at Ukraine between late Wednesday and early Thursday, according to the Ukrainian air force. \u2013 The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukrainian drones have hit several locations across Moscow in Kyiv\u2019s biggest air raid on the city since the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5148,96282,42,43,3589,40,38,41,39,9688,1713,5936,58419],"class_list":["post-506536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-european-union","tag-european-council","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-russia","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-ukraine-crisis","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}