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Ukraine strikes a Moscow oil refinery, and the regional governor reports two dead
September 20, 2026
A Ukrainian drone and missile attack set a large fire at the Gazpromneft-Moscow Oil Refinery on September 20, and the regional governor says two people were killed.
Gazprom, the Russian state-run energy company, operates the Gazpromneft-Moscow Oil Refinery southeast of the capital, a plant that supplies 40% of Moscow's fuel market and sits about 560 kilometers from Ukraine.
Key facts
- Zelensky listed the Ukrainian long-range weapons involved as the Pelican, Flamingo, Bars, Liutyi, Vendetta, Palianytsia, MICH-2000, RZ-100, Sichen and FP-1.
- Regional authorities said a Russian drone strike on the evening of Sept. 19 killed a boy aged 2 and a girl aged 3.
- She joined the Kyiv Post, the oldest English-language newspaper in the country, in January 2012 as a staff writer, and became the paper's correspondent in Canada in June 2018.
- Ukraine's Air Force said 101 of the 138 attack drones that Russian forces sent at the country were shot down.
- Ukraine's General Staff said an overnight long-range strike on Sept. 20 set off "a large-scale fire" at the Gazpromneft-Moscow Oil Refinery outside the Russian capital.
The Kyiv Independent reports that Ukraine's General Staff attributes an overnight fire at the Gazpromneft-Moscow Oil Refinery to a Ukrainian long-range strike on September 20. “Striking such facilities belonging to the Russian aggressor constitutes Ukraine's exercise of its inalienable right to self-defense,” the General Staff said in its statement. ABC News reports smoke over the capital on Sunday morning after a drone and missile attack that counted the refinery among its targets, and it names Gazprom, the state-run energy company, as the operator of the plant. CNN reports that the refinery ranks among the largest in the country by volume. The Financial Times ties the same night to the heaviest drone attack Moscow has faced, and The New York Times frames it around hundreds of drones aimed at the capital as Russia's voting closed.
CNN reports that Andrey Vorobiev, who governs the wider Moscow region, put the toll at two people killed and 20 injured, three of them children. ABC News reports that Sergey Sobyanin, Moscow's mayor, said air defenses downed 450 Ukrainian drones bound for the city on Saturday night, and called the attack “unprecedented.” The Kyiv Independent reports that local authorities in Moscow Oblast counted 249 drones downed, that the refinery supplies 40% of Moscow's fuel market, and that it sits about 560 kilometers from Ukraine. ABC News reports that Rosaviatsiya, the Russian federal air transport agency, placed all four of the capital's international airports, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo, under temporary flight restrictions overnight.
The Kyiv Independent reports that the attack came during the second day of a three-day State Duma vote, Russia's first parliamentary election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. CNN reports that United Russia, the party of President Vladimir Putin, is widely expected to win, with no credible opposition on the ballot. One account carries a Telegram post from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said Kyiv's long-range strikes “had a very significant impact in the Moscow region last night,” and a competing account holds to a narrower version of the damage. On the Russian Defense Ministry's tally of drones destroyed over the regions it listed for September 19, one account relays the ministry figure and another sets it aside. The refinery strike, the fire, the deaths in the Moscow region and the airport restrictions hold across the outlets. The drone counts and the Ukrainian president's account of the damage do not.
“Striking such facilities belonging to the Russian aggressor constitutes Ukraine's exercise of its inalienable right to self-defense,” the General Staff said.
the General Staff
Still developing
The number of drones intercepted over Moscow Oblast does not close, and its place in the run of events moves between the accounts.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos — Ukrainian drones and missiles target Moscow, oil refinery in deadly attack: Officials
- CNN — Moscow targeted by ‘massive drone attack’ on day three of Russia’s parliamentary election
- The Kyiv Independent — Ukraine hits Russia's Gazpromneft-Moscow Oil Refinery amid parliamentary election, General Staff says - The Kyiv Independent
- Financial Times — Ukraine hits Moscow with ‘largest ever’ drone attack
Toggle read the full reports of 3 of the 5 outlets counted on this event. The other 2 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.