One killed and six wounded in massive Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow; major oil hub hit

The massive overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow and its region left one person dead and six wounded, while the Russian capital’s four airports were temporarily closed and hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed, according to Russian officials and Tuesday morning media reports.

Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said one person was killed and six others were wounded in the overnight attack — as The Sun reports.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at least 650 Ukrainian drones flew towards the capital overnight, of which Russian air defence shot down 105 as they approached Moscow — according to The Kyiv Independent. Russian officials spoke of 679 drones in an 8.5-hour attack, one of the heaviest the region has seen.

The drones hit the Volodarsk Linear Production and Dispatch Center near the village of Konstantinovo, about 40 kilometres from central Moscow — a major oil pipeline node, key to supplying Moscow’s three main airports (Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo). Eyewitness footage shows flames and thick smoke rising from the facility, about 450 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. The reporting comes from the Exilenova Plus channel on Telegram; The Kyiv Independent notes it could not immediately verify the reports.

Moscow’s four airports were forced to close temporarily; hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled, while passengers at Sheremetyevo — one of Russia’s largest airports — were ordered to shelter underground, as The Sun reports.

Context: Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence announced on 4 October that over 51% of Russia’s oil refining capacity has been disabled by Ukrainian attacks; Ukraine regularly strikes military and energy infrastructure deep inside Russia to weaken Moscow’s ability to continue the war. Meanwhile Russia continues attacks on Ukrainian cities: on the night of 5 October Kyiv was targeted, where drone debris fell in a residential area in the Pecherskyi district after being shot down by air defence — according to The Kyiv Independent.