Ukraine drone attack hits Moscow oil refinery; Russia strikes Sumy and Dnipro

Ukrainian drones struck the Moscow Oil Refinery on Thursday, June 18, 2026, sending thick black smoke and occasional flames from its red-and-white smokestacks on the southeastern edge of the city, about 15 kilometers from the Kremlin. Sooty black rain fell on cars in Moscow, and firefighters extinguished a burning car and remaining hotspots outside the city.

The strike was the second on the facility in one week.

Russian air defenses shot down 555 Ukrainian drones overnight across multiple regions, with almost 200 intercepted near Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia launched roughly half as many drones at Ukraine overnight.

Commercial flights at four Moscow airports were temporarily halted, and more than 500 flights were delayed or canceled, according to the Russian business daily Kommersant.

A drone hit a residential building in the town of Zhukovsky in the greater Moscow region, Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said. Buildings elsewhere in the region were damaged by drone debris, injuring 17 people, including two children. The Moscow Oil Refinery produces more than a third of the Moscow region’s fuel.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Thursday’s fire at the refinery was “largely contained,” with remaining hotspots being extinguished. Authorities in Moscow stated that supplies of oil products to Moscow and the work of all gas stations in the city continue as normal.

One out of every four gas stations in multiple Russian regions has introduced some kind of fuel purchase restrictions, Russian independent news outlet Agentstvo reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had held “an important coordination call” with the presidents of the United States and France and had won key pledges of further support from this week’s G7 summit. Zelenskyy said the refinery strike was “justified” and added that the attack was part of Kyiv’s effort to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.