Ukraine sets Moscow refinery ablaze

MOSCOW – Ukraine yesterday launched its largest drone attack on Moscow in years, sparking fires in and around the capital, hitting a major oil refinery and forcing evacuations at the country’s largest airport, officials said.

AFP reporters saw large columns of black smoke spreading over the capital’s southern skyline in dramatic scenes, while flames could be seen burning on part of an oil complex in the southern Kapotnya district. A strong, unpleasant smell hung in the air, as the fire burned at the refinery through the morning. The strikes came as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Southeast Asian leaders at a summit in the central city of Kazan, about 700 kilometres east of the capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the strikes in a post on social media, calling them a “fully justified response” to Russian attacks on Ukraine.

The attack was the largest on Moscow in at least two years, Russia’s state TASS news agency reported.