With much of the world’s attention focused on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, we must also remember that the Russo-Ukrainian War is still going on. Such a reminder came on Thursday, when reports surfaced of a retaliatory strike on a Moscow-area oil refinery by a Ukrainian drone swarm, which set that refinery ablaze.
Advertisement
Moscow oil refinery on fire after a massive Ukrainian drone attack. This comes after countless Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/5XTSCyFGjb
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) June 18, 2026
The Ukrainian strike comes after major Russian attacks on the Ukranian capital.
Ukraine struck a major Moscow oil refinery Thursday for a second time in a week, sending huge plumes of black smoke over the capital and disrupting hundreds of flights at its airports in one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia’s full-scale invasion over four years ago, officials said.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion. Some areas have reported fuel shortages.
The attack by dozens of drones came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had held “an important coordination call” with the presidents of the United States and France and had won key pledges of further support from this week’s G7 summit.
“If Ukraine is going to burn, your Moscow will burn too,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the attack was part of Kyiv’s effort to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. “It is time to end the aggression, time to end this war.”
Advertisement
This conflict has, for some time now, become something of a high-tech version of the Great War, a war of attrition where the lines are more or less fixed, and in which both sides are channeling the Duke of Wellington, who, at Waterloo, is said to have remarked, “Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let’s see who will pound longest.”
Read More: Peace? Putin Indicates Russo-Ukraine War Now ‘Moving Toward Completion’
18 House Republicans Broke With Trump on Ukraine – Democrats Could Not Be Happier
Here’s a key point:
The Moscow attack was the latest embarrassment for Putin. Ukrainian drones attacked his hometown of St. Petersburg earlier this month as he welcomed foreign VIPs to his showcase economic forum in the city.
What’s much less clear is whether or not this prolonged war, in which Russia has been unable to subdue the much smaller Ukraine, seems to be loosening Tsar Vladimir I’s grip on the levers of power in Moscow. Putin has perhaps amassed for himself more personal control over affairs in Russia than any Russian leader since Josef Stalin, but that power isn’t without limits, and Russian families (and Ukrainian families, for that matter) have to be getting tired of seeing so many young men sent into this meat grinder. They are also likely tired of having their infrastructure hit by Ukrainian drone swarms, and that’s something that Ukraine has gotten pretty good at.
Advertisement
This thing can’t go on forever. A year ago, a return to the status quo ante 2022 may have been possible, with Ukraine surrendering any hope of regaining the Crimea while Russia pulls back from Ukrainian territory it now holds. Now, though? Every drone, every missile launched may well make any settlement just that much harder. It’s getting to the point where it’s hard to see where this thing ends.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.