Ukrainian forces carried out a massive overnight strike on military-industrial and fuel sites across Moscow Oblast on 17 May 2026. The attack set fires at several facilities and briefly disrupted a Moscow airport. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) confirmed it was behind the strikes. Ukraine's President called it a justified answer to Russian attacks on its cities, while Russia claimed large-scale interceptions.
What Ukraine struck in Moscow Oblast
The SBU said its Alpha special operations center worked with the Defense Forces. In Moscow Oblast, the strike hit the Angstrem plant, a Zelenograd semiconductor maker under US sanctions that supplies Russia's defense industry. It also hit the Moscow oil refinery and two oil stations, the agency named as Solnechnogorsk and Volodarskoye.
The SBU said the raid reduced Russia's ability to keep waging the war and showed that "even the most protected Moscow Oblast is not safe." Such operations would continue, the agency's acting head, Yevhenii Khmara, said.
Oil depot burning near Moscow
Strike drones hit Rosneft's Solnechnogorsk fuel-loading station in the village of Durykino, about 40 to 45 kilometers from Moscow, Militarnyi reported. The drones struck one of the storage tanks, and a strong fire broke out. The station sits on the ring pipeline that carries fuel products around the capital. It is one of the largest oil depots in the area, supplying the region with gasoline and diesel.
Moscow Oblast governor Andrei Vorobyov acknowledged that infrastructure sites had been attacked but gave no details. The Russian news Telegram channel Astra reported that residents of Durykino described an explosion and fire overnight, and its analysis of eyewitness footage pointed to the same station.
Fire at the Zelenograd technopark
In Zelenograd, part of Moscow about 30 kilometers from the city, a fire broke out at the Elma technopark after an overnight attack. Astra reported that its analysis of eyewitness footage placed one blaze at the technopark, filmed from about 800 meters away. The site reportedly houses more than 150 resident firms working in electronics, instrument-making and research. Ukrainian drones had already attacked the complex on 28 May 2025, when at least one building was damaged.
The Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported that the strike likely hit Angstrem, one of Russia's oldest microchip makers. Its components go into military communications, radars, electronic warfare, and missile systems. Sheremetyevo airport briefly suspended operations, and a video filmed nearby showed a fire on a runway and thick black smoke.
Kyiv's justified response
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote that Ukraine's responses to Russia's continued war and its attacks on Ukrainian cities and communities are fully justified. He said Ukrainian long-range "sanctions" had now reached Moscow Oblast, more than 500 kilometers from Ukraine's border. Russian air defense is concentrated there most heavily, he said, "but we are overcoming it." He thanked the SBU and the Defense Forces for the precision of the operation.
What Russia claimed
Russia's defense ministry claimed that its air defenses had downed 1,054 Ukrainian drones, eight guided bombs, and two of Ukraine's newest missiles over 24 hours, according to Astra, citing TASS. It claimed the intercepts included a Flamingo long-range cruise missile and a Neptune-MD long-range guided missile. Ukraine had not reported using those missiles on 17 May.
