Ukraine Strikes Moscow Oil Refinery in 'Just Response' to Russian Attacks

Ukraine confirmed on June 16 that it successfully struck the Moscow Oil Refinery in the Kapotnya district, with President Volodymyr Zelensky characterizing the attack as a necessary measure to pressure Russia into ending the war. According to Zelensky, the strike involved Ukraine's long-range weapons and represented a 'just response' to Russian strikes. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 25 drones were intercepted over the city, with one damaging a facility at the refinery. The attack ignited a fire in one of the refinery's ELOU-AVT-6 oil processing units, forcing the entire facility offline, though Russian industry sources indicated a second undamaged unit was expected to resume operations soon.

The Moscow Oil Refinery is a strategically significant facility, supplying aviation fuel to four major airports serving the Russian capital—Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky—and has an annual processing capacity exceeding 12 million tonnes of crude oil. Zelensky identified the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Special Operations Forces, and military intelligence (HUR) as participants in the operation. In response to the strike, the Russian oil company Tatneft implemented nationwide restrictions at its petrol stations, accepting only cash payments and limiting fuel purchases to 30 litres per passenger vehicle.

The refinery strike came one day after Russia launched a major assault on Kyiv involving dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles—including hypersonic Zircon missiles—and over 600 drones. That attack killed at least five people, injured 35 others including a pregnant woman and two young children, and caused severe damage to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of Ukraine's most important historic and religious sites. The Moscow Oil Refinery had previously been struck on May 16, marking the second confirmed Ukrainian attack on the facility during the conflict.