UKRAINE has blitzed Moscow for the second time in days with a major oil refinery in the capital exploding in a huge fireball blast.
The intense aerial strikes came just hours after Kyiv accused Vladimir Putin of seeking to thwart Donald Trump’s ceasefire demands.
Russia’s prized oil refinery, located just 55 miles from the Kremlin dictator’s £1billion clifftop palace on the Black Sea, was the primary target of the attack.
The hit triggered a seismic ten explosions at the site followed by a massive inferno with flames ripping through the region.
Emergency services confirmed they sent out 121 people from across 39 units to try and extinguish the fire.
Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev announced: “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.”
Vnukovo airport, which had been recently used by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff after meeting Putin and his associates, was closed down due to the heavy drone bombardment within 24 hours.
An area close to Kievskaya station, named after the Ukrainian capital, also reportedly came under fire.
It sits just across from the Moscow River and near to the Russian White House and the British Embassy.
Another strike battered Leninsky Prospekt near to Shabolovskaya metro station.
Elsewhere, a strike left the roof of a residential block on Kievskaya Street on fire with the windows shattered among falling debris.
The strikes come just three days after Ukraine launched one of their biggest drone attacks of the war so far.
Russian air defences were left scrambling to shoot down over 337 drones across 10 different regions with Moscow and Kursk the main targets.
The attacks appeared to be a fiery response from Kyiv against Moscow’s refusal to accept a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire agreement.
After the attack, Putin responded for the first time on Thursday, expressing general agreement but also bringing up a multitude of questions and considerations, referring to them as “nuances.”
Addressing all of his concerns would take a long time – far from the immediate peace Trump wants.
Putin said: “We agree with the proposals for the ceasefire, but our position is based on the assumption the ceasefire will lead to a long-term peace.”
He insisted any agreement must address the “root causes” of the conflict.
Russia’s version of the war’s root causes is at odds with most nations’, so that could be a particular sticking point.
