Ukrainian drones attacked the Moscow Oil Refinery on the morning of June 18 for the second time since the beginning of the week. In addition, debris from intercepted drones fell on the grounds of the Sadovod shopping center and damaged one of its buildings. No casualties were reported.
The Moscow Oil Refinery (JSC Gazprom Neft Moscow Refinery) is one of the largest oil-refining enterprises in Russia, located in the Kapotnya district of Moscow. Its processing capacity is 11 million tonnes of crude oil per year. The refinery supplies approximately 40% of Moscow’s fuel market and 70% of the Moscow region’s demand for gasoline and aviation kerosene. The Moscow Oil Refinery was previously attacked on June 16.
In total, during the raid, which lasted from 4:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m., air defense forces shot down about 180 Ukrainian drones approaching Moscow or flying directly over the city, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
Also during the night, around 60 drones attacked Russia’s Rostov region. As a result of a strike on the city of Gukovo, one person was killed and two others were injured, Governor Yuri Slyusar reported. According to him, the attack caused “two fires at commercial facilities.”
Based on photographs provided by eyewitnesses, the Astra outlet determined that an oil depot with eight storage tanks was on fire in the city.
“Moscow continues to come under attack — this has now become the new normal because Putin does not want to end the war. The Moscow oil refinery has been hit, storage tanks are still burning, and the sky is filled with black smoke,” said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
