Zelensky Declares 'Moscow Will Burn' After Ukraine Launches Massive Drone Attack on Russia

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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky declares ‘Moscow will burn’ after massive drone attack sets oil refinery ablaze

Moscow's mayor says around 180 drones heading for the Russian capital alone have been downed so far

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that “Moscow will burn” if attacks continue after Ukraine launched a heavy drone strike on Russia in retaliation for damage done to a historic monastery in Kyiv this week.

Hundreds of drones targeted Moscow overnight, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the ⁠second time this week, in one of the biggest aerial assaults on Russia of the war so far.

The Ukrainian president said: “We ​don't ⁠want this war, we never did, and everyone knows it, and our partners know ⁠it," Zelenskiy said in a voice message sent to ​reporters ⁠on a WhatsApp ‌group. "But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn.”

It comes after at least 10 people were killed on Monday across ‌Ukraine in a drone and missile attack ‌that damaged the 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery.

Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobhyanin said around 180 drones heading for the capital alone had been downed on Thursday. Hours earlier, Trump said that Vladimir Putin needs the war in Ukraine to end as Moscow is losing more troops than Kyiv.

Russia and Ukraine carry out another exchange of war dead, RBC reports

Russia and ⁠Ukraine carried out another exchange ⁠of ​war ⁠dead ⁠on ​Thursday, with ⁠Moscow ‌receiving 33 bodies and ‌Ukraine receiving ‌522 ⁠bodies, Russia's RBC news outlet reported, citing a ‌Russian ​lawmaker.

Bryony Gooch18 June 2026 12:30

Zelensky: 'Moscow will burn' if attacks continue

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday heavy drone attacks on Russia were retaliation for a strike that damaged a ⁠historic monastery in Kyiv this week, and that "Moscow will burn" if attacks continue.

Scores of drones targeted Moscow overnight, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the ⁠second time this week.

“We ​don't ⁠want this war, we never did, and everyone knows it, and our partners know ⁠it," Zelensky said in a voice message sent to ​reporters ⁠on a WhatsApp ‌group. "But if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn."

At least 10 people were killed on Monday across ‌Ukraine in a drone and missile attack ‌that damaged the 1,000-year-old Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery.

Bryony Gooch18 June 2026 12:06

Russia fires 246 drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight

Russia launched seven missiles and 239 drones at Ukraine in an overnight attack, Ukraine’s air forces reported.

Forces were able to down or suppress 216 targets - including four missiles and 212 drones.

Missiles came from the Voronezh, Bryansk and Kursk regions. Drones were fired from Kursk, Orel, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, as well as the Russian occupied Crimea and Donetsk regions.

Bryony Gooch18 June 2026 12:00

Suspect detained after Russian artist shot in Poland

A suspect has been detained by authorities after a Russian artist who was critical of President Vladimir Putin was shot dead, the Polish prime minister has confirmed.

Donald Tusk said that the suspect, using a Georgian passport, had been detained by Lublin police and the internal security agency as services work to “establish the mastermind”.

He warned on Wednesday that the killing had all the hallmarks of a political assassination.

Robert Kuzovkov, known by the pseudonym Semyon Skrepetsky, was shot and killed at close range near his home in the eastern Polish city of Biala Podlaska on Monday.

Bryony Gooch18 June 2026 11:30

Macron says Trump 'took note of fact Russia does not want peace'

Emmanuel Macron has said that president Donald Trump “took notice” of the fact that Russia was not seeking peace.

Speaking at a press conference at the G7 summit, the French president said Washington acknowledged that Moscow was not looking to end its war in Ukraine.

He said the G7 had “showed a real change in the approach from the US on Ukraine”.

Trump had earlier suggested that the US could impose sanctions on Russia if it did not take steps to end the war.

Arpan Rai18 June 2026 11:00

Kremlin says new Ukrainian attacks set back prospects for Putin-Zelenskiy meeting, IFX reports

Ukraine's latest attacks on Russia are ⁠pushing back the prospect of any ⁠direct ​contacts between President ⁠Vladimir Putin and ⁠his Ukrainian ​counterpart Volodymyr ⁠Zelensky, Kremlin ‌aide Yuri Ushakov said ‌on Thursday, the Interfax ‌news agency reported.

Ushakov ⁠made his remarks after Moscow bore the brunt of one of the largest ‌Ukrainian ​aerial assaults ‌of ⁠the war ⁠so far.

Bryony Gooch18 June 2026 10:57

Zelensky says air defence, PURL will be central to Ramstein talks

The supply of air defences to Ukraine through ⁠NATO's PURL programme and the creation of an anti-ballistic missile ⁠system ​by Ukraine ⁠and its allies will ⁠be discussed at a ​meeting ⁠of the ‌group on Thursday, president Volodymyr Zelensky ‌said.

In a voice ‌message sent to reporters on a ⁠WhatsApp group, Zelensky said that the overnight strikes on Moscow and other locations in Russia were ‌a response ​to a ‌Russian strike ⁠this week that damaged ⁠a medieval Ukrainian ‌monastery ​complex.

Bryony Gooch18 June 2026 10:55

16 people injured in drone attacks on Moscow, authorities report

More than a dozen people have been injured in Ukrainian drone attacks on the Moscow region, authorities have said.

Moscow’s regional governor said 16 people were injured in drone attacks that hit the Russian capital's oil refinery for the second time this week.

Russia, for its part, fired missiles into Kyiv, also for the second time this week, following an attack that damaged Kyiv's landmark 1,000-year-old monastery and drew international condemnation.

Bryony Gooch18 June 2026 10:30

Russia is firing warning shots off the Isle of Wight: How worried should Britain be?

A Russian warship fired warning shots at a retired British couple sailing on a UK-registered yacht in the English channel, risking a major international incident.

The frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired several shots near the 40ft civilian yacht, Bright Future, on Tuesday as it sailed around 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight.

The popular route is regularly traversed by ferries, yachts, commercial ships and the international high-speed rail service, the Eurostar.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson insisted that that the event was “an isolated incident” that was “not linked” to the UK’s interception of the Russian shadow fleet tanker the Smyrtos over the weekend.

Russia is firing warning shots off the Isle of Wight: How worried should Britain be?

A heavily armed Russian warship opened fire near a civilian yacht sailed by a retired British couple

Arpan Rai18 June 2026 10:15

Zelensky says Moscow oil refinery hit and asks Russia to choose diplomacy

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said his forces attacked the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya for the second time in a week as he said it is about time the war ended.

“Last night, our long-range sanctions once again reached the Moscow region – for the second time this week, the Moscow oil refinery was hit. Targets were also struck in the Rostov region and in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

He said the attack was a “fully justified response to Russian attacks on our cities and communities” and against the facilities that “sustain Russia’s war machine”.

“It is time the war ended, and Russia must take the necessary steps in diplomacy,” Zelensky said.

Ukraine is stepping up its aerial attacks on Russia – and in particular its critical oil infrastructure – to demonstrate to allies in the US and Europe that it is now of the offensive and Russia is on the defensive, giving Kyiv the strategic edge to end the war.

Zelensky's G7 allies issued a joint statement after this week's G7 summit noting Ukraine's battlefield progress and that Russia is sustaining record losses.

Arpan Rai18 June 2026 10:00