Moscow and the surrounding Moscow region came under a large-scale drone attack overnight on September 20, sparking a fire at the Moscow Oil Refinery. At least two people were killed and six others were injured in the Moscow region.
The incident was reported by ASTRA, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov.
According to an OSINT analysis by ASTRA, the attack caused a fire at the Moscow Oil Refinery, operated by Gazpromneft-MNPZ, in Moscow’s Kapotnya district.
Sobyanin claimed that Russian air defenses had intercepted more than 1,600 drones since the previous day, including around 450 on approach to Moscow. According to him, several drones “reached the territory of the Moscow Oil Refinery.” Another drone also struck a residential building on Orekhovy Boulevard.
The Moscow Oil Refinery is one of Russia’s largest oil refining facilities. It has an annual processing capacity of around 11 million tonnes of crude oil. The refinery supplies roughly 40% of Moscow’s fuel market and a significant share of the wider Moscow region’s demand for gasoline and aviation fuel.
ASTRA also reported that a warehouse complex operated by Sovremennye Skladskie Tekhnologii in the village of Sofyino, Ramenskoye urban district, was hit in the attack. The facility consists of six buildings with a total area of around 290,000 square meters. A Pantsir surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system position is located about 500 meters from the complex.
Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said the region was attacked by 249 drones overnight. According to him, the most serious consequences were recorded in the Ramenskoye district.
On Severnoye Highway, the roof of a 21-story residential building caught fire after a drone fell nearby. Around 400 people, including 70 children, were evacuated, and 20 vehicles were damaged.
In Sofyino, a drone struck a three-story residential building. A 44-year-old woman was killed and five other people were injured, including two children. A warehouse complex in the same area also caught fire following the attack.
Another person was killed in the Orekhovo-Zuyevo district. Vorobyov said the elderly man was inside a private home when the drone attack occurred.
One person was also reported injured in the Leninsky district. In Kotelniki, a drone struck an apartment building in the Novye Kotelniki neighborhood, where fire spread to apartments on three floors.
Russian authorities also reported damage from the attack in other municipalities across the Moscow region.
