A massive fire erupted at an oil refinery in central Moscow, grounding all flights at the capital's airports, according to Israeli media reports. The refinery fire is the latest in a series of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian energy infrastructure this week.
A major fire at an oil refinery in central Moscow on Thursday afternoon has prompted authorities to halt all flights at the capital's airports, according to Israeli media reports citing local sources. Video footage circulating on social media shows a large column of black smoke rising from the facility. The flight suspension is the latest development in a sequence of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Moscow's energy infrastructure this week.
The bulletin matches a story The Zioneer has tracked since Tue Jun 16, 10:19 Jerusalem, when initial reports said Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Moscow. By that same hour, The Zioneer reported (version 2) that the Moscow refinery—located about 15 km from the Kremlin—processes roughly 11.6 million tons of petroleum products annually and supplies an estimated 40% of the capital's fuel. At Tue 10:19 Jerusalem, version 3 reported that a Ukrainian drone strike had halted the main Moscow oil refinery, citing an Arabic-language source. Version 4, also at Tue 10:19, said a large fire continued to burn at the facility after a strike. By version 5 (Tue 10:19 Jerusalem), Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed the strike on the refinery and reported no casualties. Versions 6–8, all at Tue 10:19 Jerusalem, described a second strike on the same refinery the same week, Russia beginning to import fuel from Asia amid the strikes, and a drone strike that reportedly lifted a fuel storage lid at the refinery.
As The Zioneer reported on Thu Jun 18 at 11:46 Jerusalem, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed a large-scale drone attack on Moscow, describing it as "long-range sanctions." Russia's Defense Ministry reported intercepting 555 drones nationwide overnight, with 194 targeting the capital. On Tuesday, Jun 16 at 14:27 Jerusalem, The Zioneer cited a Ukrainian drone strike that halted the main Moscow oil refinery, a strategic facility providing 40% of the capital's fuel.
The extent of damage from Thursday's fire and any casualties remain unconfirmed. The specific facility hit has not been named, though it is reported to be a central Moscow refinery.
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