Ukrainian drones strike Moscow Refinery in Kapotnya for second time in two days, sparking major fire

Ukrainian drones struck the Moscow Refinery (MNPZ) in the southeastern district of Kapotnya overnight into June 18. “Several drones managed to reach MNPZ. Measures are being taken to deal with the consequences,” Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram channel.

The Telegram channels Astra and Exilenova+ have published photos and footage of a major fire that broke out on the refinery grounds. Astra counted at least five separate fire hotspots. The Ukrainian OSINT project KiberBoroshno reports that strikes were recorded on the Moscow Refinery’s tank farm, the G-43-107 catalytic cracking unit, the visbreaking unit area, and a facility producing methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and oligomerate.

The Moscow Refinery had already been attacked overnight into June 16. According to Reuters sources, that strike hit the refinery’s main crude distillation unit, which accounts for 53% of the plant’s processing capacity. Following the attack, the refinery suspended operations. The facility was also targeted in an earlier drone attack in May.

The Kapotnya refinery has a processing capacity of 11 million metric tons of crude oil per year, covering about 40% of Moscow’s fuel needs and 70% of the Moscow Region’s demand for gasoline and jet fuel.

In the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow, a drone struck an apartment building, according to Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov. No casualties were mentioned in preliminary reports.

According to Mayor Sobyanin, a total of about 180 drones were shot down on approach to Moscow. The Russian Defense Ministry’s morning briefing added that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 555 Ukrainian UAVs overnight over the Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Vladimir, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Oryol, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, Rostov, and Ryazan regions, as well as Moscow and Moscow Region, annexed Crimea, and the waters of the Sea of Azov.

Elsewhere, a drone attack sparked a fire at an oil depot in Gukovo, in Russia’s Rostov Region. Regional Governor Yury Slyusar reported that one person was killed in Gukovo and two others were injured.