STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Ukraine launched a new wave of drone attacks on Russia overnight, with the majority targeting Moscow. Here's the sound as some of the strikes hit, as captured on Russian social media.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION)
INSKEEP: You can hear the buzz of the drones, the blast, the car alarms. It amounted to one of the largest attacks on the Russian capital since the Kremlin ordered the invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. NPR's Russia correspondent, Charles Maynes, is in Moscow. Charles, you're OK?
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: I'm just fine, Steve. Thanks.
INSKEEP: Good. Good. Glad to hear it. When we say this is one of the largest attacks, how large was it?
MAYNES: Well, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said nearly 200 Ukrainian drones were basically shot down on approach to the capital overnight and into the morning, but acknowledged that several had managed to hit the city's main oil refinery. These videos, some of which we heard in your intro, circulating on social media, show drones repeatedly striking this facility, sending these large fireballs skyward and expletives tumbling out of many a Russian mouth. In one instance, an explosion sent the lid of a round oil container rocketing skyward. It really looked like something from a CGI effect in a movie.
INSKEEP: Wow.
MAYNES: You know, I should add that Russian intercepts also appear to have played a role in some of the damage we've seen. For example, one drone crashed into a mega mall here. Another slammed into a high-rise apartment. Presumably those drones were intended elsewhere. But even hours after the attack, you saw thick plumes of black smoke massed along the Moscow skyline. All four of the city's airports have suspended operations. So all in all, a real jolt to the city, and we're still waiting to hear about injuries.
INSKEEP: So how does this attack on Moscow's main oil refinery fit in with the recent attack on another big city - St. Petersburg?
MAYNES: Yeah. I was in St. Petersburg for that attack, and it - similarly, we saw big plumes of black smoke over the city. In recent months, Ukraine has upped these attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in a bid to both dent the Kremlin's war chest and also, I think, to bring the war that has ravaged Ukraine home to Russians as well. In a statement after these latest attacks, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy justified them as a response to intense Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities. He also painted them essentially as a message - it was time for Russia to end the war and enter into some form of diplomatic negotiations.
INSKEEP: Any chance of that?
MAYNES: Well, probably not. You know, we haven't heard from Vladimir Putin - Russian President Vladimir Putin. He's actually in the city of Kazan today in Tatarstan, hosting a regional Asia conference. He made some comments early on in the morning that seemed to pretend as if this had never happened. But Russia certainly has been attuned to comments recently from President Trump that he wants to reengage on the Ukraine issue now that - at least it seems for now - the war with Iran has quieted down.
In fact, a Kremlin aide said they're expecting White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow in the near - soon, although we don't have an exact date for that. But the aide put it - said it was really to explain the real picture from the Russian view of what's happening in this war, suggesting that somehow Trump was getting bad information from Europeans and this idea that somehow Ukraine had the upper hand. But meanwhile, we also heard from Russian nationalists, who once again have said these brazen attacks that we saw today mean that, you know, Russia should punch harder, should use more powerful missiles to bring Ukraine to heel. Whether that takes hold with Vladimir Putin, we just have to wait and see.
INSKEEP: Charles, thanks so much.
MAYNES: Thank you.
INSKEEP: NPR's Charles Maynes. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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