18/06/2026 15:40 - Internacionales
Un drone volando de noche sobre una ciudad con columnas de humo negro y el Kremlin iluminado al fondo, cielo con destellos de defensas antiaéreas, escena de ataque militar moderno
On Tuesday, June 16, 2026, Rohoza Mykhailo — a Ukrainian veteran living in Canada known on X as @Oct7NeverForget — posted an image that seemed like just another piece of war propaganda: a Tryzub (the shield with the trident, Ukraine's national symbol) held by a hand over Moscow's Red Square, with the Kremlin and Saint Basil's Cathedral in the background.
The phrase accompanying the meme was striking: "We are closer than you think." The post accumulated over 2 million views and thousands of likes and retweets, generating furious reactions from Russian users and a wave of counter-memes.
What seemed like a symbolic provocation took on real dimensions this Thursday, June 18, 2026, when Ukraine launched an unprecedented aerial offensive against the Russian capital.
Approximately 200 drones headed toward the city of 13 million residents in multiple waves. Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, reported that air defense systems intercepted 194 devices, though several managed to hit strategic targets.
In total, across all of Russia, anti-aircraft batteries shot down 555 drones according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. This marks the largest attack suffered by the megalopolis since the war began in 2022, according to some media outlets, while the Russian agency TASS described it as the most serious in two years.
The hardest hit target was the Kapotnia refinery, owned by the consortium Gazprom Neft, located in the southeast of the city, just 15 kilometers from the Kremlin.
The facility processes:
The fire unleashed by the attack generated columns of black smoke visible from across the city and even from space, according to satellite images shared on social media.
Regional authorities in Moscow reported:
For the first time, missile threat alerts were activated in the Novgorod region, located between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky justified the offensive in a voice message sent to the WhatsApp group of journalists covering Ukrainian affairs:
"Of course we don't want Ukraine to burn because of the enemy, but if Ukraine burns, Moscow will burn too."
In that same message, Zelensky reiterated his offer to Vladimir Putin to declare an immediate ceasefire and negotiate an end to the conflict. The president is currently in Brussels seeking more military support and advancing European integration.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential advisor, was even more direct with Russian media: "Oil was the main instrument of this war. Without oil, there will be no war."
The facility's deterioration worsens a supply shortage already affecting 53 Russian regions, where fuel supply restrictions have been imposed, according to The Bell news portal.
The offensive contrasts with recent statements by Putin, who had assured that only a few drones managed to penetrate Russian air defenses. Just two days ago, Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Defense Committee in the Duma (Russia's lower house of parliament), claimed that Russia has the world's best air defense system and that Moscow needed no additional security measures.
This attack occurs within the framework of the war that began in February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since the war's start, Moscow claims to have shot down 164,703 Ukrainian drones in total.
The attack also follows the Russian bombing of a historic cathedral in Kyiv, which prompted the Ukrainian response. Zelensky warned that if fighting does not cease, the coming winter will be harsher for Russian citizens than for Ukrainians, who continue developing long-range drones and missiles.
For international readers: The Tryzub (trident) is Ukraine's national coat of arms, a symbol of independence dating back to ancient times. Red Square is the heart of Moscow, surrounded by the Kremlin (seat of Russian government) and Saint Basil's Cathedral. Gazprom Neft is a major Russian oil company, a subsidiary of the state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
Alfredo S. Quiroga
