Zelenskyy says Moscow will burn if Russia keeps striking Ukraine after overnight drone attacks hit refinery

Ukraine’s overnight drone strike on a Moscow-area oil refinery set off a fire, disrupted airport operations across the Russian capital and drew a sharp retaliation warning from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The attack added to an expanding campaign of Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and came amid another round of damage, confusion and official claims over how many drones reached the Moscow region.

Overnight strike on the refinery

AP reported that Ukrainian drones hit a key refinery in Moscow on June 18, igniting a fire at the facility on the southeastern outskirts of the city. The reported target was the Kapotnya oil refinery.

The refinery matters strategically because AP said it produces more than a third of the region’s fuel. A fire at that site raises immediate questions about supply, even before any fuller damage assessment is available.

The Guardian said the refinery was struck again after already being hit once in the previous week, underscoring how Moscow has become part of the war’s expanding strike zone.

Airport disruption and civilian impact

The attack had immediate effects beyond the refinery itself. AP said the fire disrupted more than 500 flights across Moscow airports, a sign of the scale of the emergency response and the disruption to travel around the capital.

The same AP reporting said 17 people were wounded in residential areas during the overnight attacks. That adds a civilian toll to what was already a major infrastructure strike.

Guardian coverage also described airport evacuations and broader disruption around Moscow as authorities responded to the overnight barrage.

Competing claims about the scale

Russian officials presented the attack as largely contained. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 500 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight, according to AP’s summary.

That figure was not independently verified in the reporting packet. It does, however, show the scale Russian authorities are attributing to the operation and the intensity of the overnight air defense response.

What remains unclear is how much physical damage the refinery sustained, whether the plant stayed operational after the fire and how many drones were intercepted versus how many got through.

Zelenskyy’s warning

The political response sharpened the stakes. The Guardian reported that Zelenskyy warned, in substance, that if Ukraine burns, Moscow will burn too.

That warning came as he was in Brussels for European Union-related meetings, according to the Guardian summary, and as Russia continued to strike Ukrainian targets. The latest reporting said those Russian attacks included a deadly strike on a historic monastery in Kyiv.

Taken together, the exchange shows how both sides are framing the conflict in increasingly direct retaliation terms.

Why the target matters

The refinery strike fits a broader Ukrainian effort to hit Russian energy assets, not just military positions. Those attacks can complicate fuel supply and war logistics even when front lines do not move.

The repeated targeting of infrastructure around Moscow also carries symbolic weight. It brings the war closer to the Russian capital and creates visible pressure on the authorities responsible for defending it.

For residents and passengers in Moscow, the immediate result was a morning of smoke, restrictions and delays. For Russian officials, the strike added another test of how much damage Ukraine can inflict deep inside the country.

What to watch next

The main open questions are whether Russian authorities issue a fuller damage assessment, whether the refinery remains operational and whether Moscow airport restrictions are extended.

It is also unclear whether Russia will respond with further strikes of its own and whether Ukraine’s campaign against energy infrastructure will intensify. The next official updates will determine whether the fire was a temporary disruption or a more consequential hit to the region’s fuel system.