Russian Air Defense Missile May Have Caused Moscow Refinery Blast as 992 Drones Hit Russia
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 19
Russian Air Defense Missile May Have Caused Moscow Refinery Blast as 992 Drones Hit Russia
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 19
Summary
Verified social media video suggests Thursday’s huge blast at a fuel storage site near Moscow’s Kapotnya refinery may have been caused by a Russian air defense missile, not a Ukrainian drone strike.
Two missile trails appear in footage shared on Douyin and verified by The New York Times, showing interceptors launched as Ukrainian drones approached the area.
The explosion sent a storage-silo roof high into the air and became the defining image of what Russia described as Ukraine’s largest drone attack on the capital since the war began.
Russian authorities said they shot down 992 Ukrainian drones across the country that day, underscoring the strain on Moscow’s layered air defenses as Ukraine scales up attacks.