KYIV - Ukraine has launched the largest drone offensive on Moscow of the full-scale war, in an attack that damaged a key oil refinery, caused fires, and sent debris raining down across the region. Air defenses shot down at least 194 drones bound for the Russian capital overnight into Thursday, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. That’s far higher than other days of heavy attacks in recent months, when drones only numbered in the double digits, and provides a stark example of Kyiv’s dramatically improved drone capabilities since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country began more than four years ago.

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The barrage, which left at least 17 people injured, was part of a larger Ukrainian attack over a broad swath of Russia, with air defenses intercepting almost 1,000 drones, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense – including over the Sea of Azov. Flights at all major Moscow airports were temporarily suspended on Thursday, Reuters reported, citing the Russian aviation agency. Kyiv has been stepping up its targeting of Russian energy infrastructure in long-range attacks in recent weeks, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has framed as a key strategy in forcing Moscow to end its war. Zelensky called Thursday’s attacks a “justified” response to Russia targeting and damaging a historic, UNESCO-listed monastery complex in the heart of Kyiv earlier this week.

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“We do not want this war and never have – everyone knows this, and our partners know this,” he told reporters. “But if Ukraine is engulfed in flames, so will your Moscow be. That is why we emphasize once again that it is time to end the aggression; it is time to end this war.”

Among Ukraine’s targets was the Moscow Oil Refinery, just 15 kilometers from the Kremlin, in the southeastern district of Kapotnya which was also struck and damaged by Ukraine on Tuesday. Video geolocated by CNN showed a ground-launched projectile being fired from a road as drones approached the refinery, with thick black smoke billowing above. Another clip showed a large explosion rocking part of complex, blowing the roof off a large fuel tank and into the air.

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