Black oil rain falls on Moscow after major attack, authorities tell residents to close windows

Black oil residue rained down on parts of Moscow after a refinery was hit during Ukraine's largest drone assault since the full-scale war began, with nearly 200 drones reportedly fired toward the Russian capital.

Thick plumes of smoke billowed into the sky, and 17 people were injured in the Moscow region, according to the local governor. Residents in the southeastern Moscow region told the BBC that a fine drizzle left "unpleasant black stains" on their clothes. Moscow authorities denied any "oil rain" had fallen. However, the city's official Telegram channel warned residents in the affected district to keep their windows closed and advised families with children, the elderly, and asthmatics to leave the area immediately.

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We don't want this war and we never wanted it. But if Ukraine is burning, then Moscow will burn too.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed nearly 1,000 drones and four Ukrainian cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed across the country in 24 hours. A fuel storage facility was hit in the southern Rostov region, killing one person.

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words are not enough.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the drone attack was a response to a Russian strike on Kyiv the previous week, which damaged a significant religious site. "We don't want this war and we never wanted it," Zelenskyy said. "But if Ukraine is burning, then Moscow will burn too." In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov vowed that attacks on Ukraine would continue "on a massive scale," adding he had "long been convinced that words are not enough."

Fires erupted after a refinery in Kapotnya, southeast of Moscow, was hit for the third time in a month and the second time that week, its smoke turning the sky black. Several videos show a dramatic moment where the top of a large silo exploded, sending the roof of an oil tank dozens of meters into the air. A nearby shopping center also caught fire, reportedly after drone debris struck the building. BBC-confirmed footage shows a drone hitting the upper floors of a skyscraper, with glass and debris falling down the facade and into the courtyard below. Other confirmed footage shows a thick, dark, oily layer covering a parking lot's asphalt, while the ground beneath parked vehicles remained clean.

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unpleasant black stains