During the night, Ukraine launched significant drone attacks on Moscow shortly after President Volodymyr Zelensky accused President Vladimir Putin of trying to sabotage a ceasefire proposal by Donald Trump.
One of the targets was a large oil refinery only 55 miles away from Putin’s extravagant £1 billion estate on a cliff overlooking the Black Sea. The strike caused ten explosions, leading to a massive fire.
Following a meeting between Putin, his key advisors, and American diplomat Steve Witkoff, who departed Moscow on his Gulfstream G650ER jet, Vnukovo airport had to be shut down due to the relentless drone assault that took place just after his departure.
It was the second concerted Ukrainian attack on Moscow in three days, and appeared a direct response to Putin setting multiple conditions for any ceasefire.
An area close to Kievskaya station, named after the Ukrainian capital, reportedly came under fire.
This is across Moscow River from both the to the Russian White House, seat of Putin’s government, and the British Embassy.
An explosion was heard in the area of main avenue Kutuzovsky Prospekt at approximately just before 7am.
Ukraine hit Tuapse Oil Refinery in Russia with a drone strike, triggering a massive inferno at the key facility, according to reports
The inferno at Tuapse Oil Refinery came after ten deafening explosions. Most reports said drones were used but locals questioned whether it was a missile strike
Smoke rises after an explosion in Balashikha, Moscow region, early this morning
A house in the Moscow suburbs destroyed after a bombardment on the Russian capital by Kyiv
‘After the explosion, car alarms went off en masse,’ said an eyewitness.
This was close to Putin’s usual highway route from his official Novo-Ogaryovo residence in Moscow to the Kremlin.
Another hit close to Shabolovskaya metro station, near Leninsky Prospekt.
One strike damaged the roof of a residential block on Kievskaya Street, and the windows of a residential building on Lesteva Street were shattered.
A piece of a misfiring Russian Pantsir air defence system was filmed by a passerby in Balashikha, Moscow region.
A private house in Rosinter-2 cottage village southwest of Moscow was also hit.
A black-and-white video shows a drone being hit by air defences in Bitsa, south of Moscow, said reports.
Khristina Nestoyanova, wife of a Russian diplomat, summed up the mood as the capital was under siege as ‘that feeling when you wake up in Moscow to the loud sounds of air defence systems amid talk of a 30-day truce’.
The inferno at Tuapse Oil Refinery came after ten deafening explosions.
Most reports said drones were used but locals questioned whether it was a missile strike.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire at a civilian hospital following a Russian drone attack in Zolochiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine
Firefighters put out the fire at a civilian hospital following a Russian drone attack in Zolochiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine
The strike was further from Ukraine than Putin’s vast Black Sea palace near Gelendzhik in a possible warning to him.
The lavish residence includes a 16-storey underground complex and bunker – built inside the cliff – and likened to the lair of a James Bond villain.
Huge flames and thick black smoke rose after the strike and the fire spread to more than 10,765 square feet.
A desperate bid to bring the blaze under control involved more than 120 firefighters.
Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said: ‘The Kyiv regime attacked the oil complex in Tuapse.
‘One of the gasoline tanks caught fire.
‘The area of the fire is more than 1,000 square metres, and emergency services are working.
‘According to preliminary data, there are no casualties.
‘121 people and 39 units of equipment are involved in extinguishing the fire.
‘The head of the Tuapse municipal district Sergey Boyko is at the scene of the emergency, reporting on the situation.’
Meanwhile, Putin is not only pushing to expel Ukrainian forces from Kursk region, but is also making inroads across the border into a Sumy region.
Sabotage and reconnaissance groups are seeking to enter Sumy region along a large stretch of border, said the Ukrainian regions military administration chief.
Putin has previously indicated he wants a buffer zone here.
A Russian strike set fire to the roof of a hospital in Zolochiv, Kharkiv region, according to Ukrainian reports.
Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky had slammed Putin for his ‘highly predictable and manipulative’ reaction to the Trump ceasefire proposal.
‘Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians,’ he said.
‘That’s why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible.’
Trump said Putin’s statement on a ceasefire was ‘promising’ but incomplete.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybil posted: ‘This is the difference.
‘Ukraine said ‘yes’ to [the] US ceasefire proposal. Because Ukraine wants peace. Putin, rather than saying ‘yes’, puts forward various conditions.
‘Ukraine seeks an end to the war. Putin seeks to continue the war. The rest of his words are just a smokescreen.’
Witkoff’s entourage was seen driving into Vnukovo airport shortly before he left Russia for the US after his talks.
Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz said after special envoy Witkoff’s talks in the Kremlin that the White House is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the Ukraine peace process.
‘I’m not going to announce or discuss anything on national television, especially before the president. But we have some cautious optimism,’ he said.
‘I spoke with my colleague Witkoff, who is there and is providing information for us to evaluate and for President Trump to make decisions about next steps.’
Meanwhile, the US revealed it is ready to supply Ukraine with GLSDB upgraded long-range ‘winged bombs’ as Kyiv’s stockpile of ATACMS missiles runs low.
Putin is also under pressure from a fall in oil prices to a level which poses a ‘headache’ to Kremlin revenues and war-funding.
On top of this, the US imposed additional restrictions on Russia’s oil, gas and banking sectors, further limiting Russia’s access to U.S. payment systems.
