Massive Drone Strike Targets Moscow Oil Refinery
On Thursday morning, a Ukrainian drone attack hit an oil refinery in southeast Moscow, sending thick black smoke billowing over the skyline. The attack was one of the largest aerial assaults on the Moscow region since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. According to the governor of the Moscow region, an eight-year-old girl was killed in a fire caused by one of the drone strikes.
Despite the surreal sight of a giant black shroud hanging over the city, many residents showed minimal reaction. An angler continued fishing by a pond near the refinery, children played on swings at a nearby playground, and shoppers moved to and from a supermarket as if it were just another Thursday.
Residents React to Escalating War
Slava, who lives in an apartment block opposite the oil refinery, told reporters: “I’m not totally surprised by what happened, but I didn’t expect such a big attack. I heard explosions and saw lots of smoke. It’s the kind of thing you normally see in the movies. I saw it from my apartment window.”
However, another local resident, Nadezhda, expressed shock: “It took us four years to win World War Two, even though our soldiers had little food and water. Today we have all the resources we need. But this war goes on. I’m shocked.”
Normalizing the Abnormal
For many Muscovites, the war on Ukraine once felt distant, but over the past year and a half, assassinations of army generals in Moscow and repeated drone attacks have made the conflict increasingly visible. Thursday’s attack, which also damaged shopping centers and residential buildings, underscores how the abnormal has become the new normal.
Russian officials regularly accuse the West of prolonging the war in Ukraine, blaming European leaders and NATO for supporting Kyiv. The Kremlin continues to refer to the conflict as a “special military operation,” even as it encroaches on the capital.
