FRANCE PERSPECTIVE

Paris, June 18, 2026. During the night of Wednesday June 17 through Thursday June 18, Ukraine launched what French media unanimously describe as the largest drone attack on Moscow in at least two years. The strike hit the MNPZ, a Gazpromneft refinery located in the Kapotnya district in Russia's capital's southeast, approximately 20 kilometers from the Kremlin. According to L'Express, nearly 1,000 drones were intercepted by Russian air defenses across a wide territory, with 194 falling over Moscow alone. Seventeen people were wounded in the capital. Geolocated imagery analyzed by RFI shows a refinery ablaze across nearly 400 hectares: hydrocarbon tanks exploded, with the massive lid of a storage tank lifted by the blast—footage recorded from a shopping center parking lot by Moscow civilians despite official restrictions on publishing such images.

The industrial stakes of the target receive particular attention from French newsrooms. The MNPZ supplies over one-third of Moscow's fuel needs, including for its airports, according to Gazpromneft data cited by France 24 and HuffPost France. This same refinery had been targeted two days earlier on Tuesday, June 16. Following Thursday's attack, flights from all major Moscow airports were temporarily suspended, with passenger evacuations to shelters at Sheremetyevo. An expert quoted by RFI moderates the scope of damage: "The various units of Russian refineries are typically duplicated to withstand wartime destruction—a legacy of the Soviet era."

The timing of Ukraine's operation is also noted by multiple outlets: the attack occurs as Vladimir Putin hosts Asian leaders for a two-day Russia-ASEAN summit in Kazan. The synchronization is presented as deliberately chosen to strike the Kremlin's international image at the moment it positions itself as a power of attraction for Asia. Against the backdrop of the G7 meeting in Evian, 20 Minutes recalls that Donald Trump had just stated Russia "should reach a deal" and that Washington could reimpose sanctions that were lifted.

President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement was widely reproduced and analyzed. In an audio transmitted to the press, the Ukrainian leader declared: "The main thing is that the Russian people begin to feel that one man, Putin, wages this war while ordinary people pay the entire price." He also posed the equivalence: "If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too." Official justification offered: retaliation for a Russian strike that damaged Kyiv's historic monastery earlier in the week and killed ten people on Monday, June 15. Russia announced retaliatory "massive strikes" on Ukraine, confirming the escalation pattern documented by 20 Minutes on the 1,575th day of the conflict.

L'Express further notes that Ukraine now finds itself "ahead" in the drone war, having intensified strikes in recent months on refineries, oil depots, and terminals to reduce revenues financing Russian military operations. The June 18 attack marks a new step in this strategy of energy attrition.