Dear patient readers,
This news broke just as Links went live. Yours truly has limits on how much I can do, so please forgive this being a quasi open thread. Below are some initial sightings; I hope readers will add more in comments as information comes in.
Stas Krapivnik said on a recent show that many in Russia were disappointed that Trump essentially forced Ukraine to pretend to agree to the ceasefire Putin announced for the Victory Day celebration and therefore not execute his much promised massive attack on the ceremonies in Red Square. Putin had promised a ferocious retaliatory attack on central Kiev and had warned civilians and all diplomatic personnel to leave. Per Stas, large swathes of the public wanted the Moscow strikes to occur so that Russia would deliver what many saw a a long-overdue crippling blow, hopefully fatal, to the Kiev regime.
These strikes presumably used weapons planned for deployment for the Victory Day attacks, with only some marginal changes in targeting.
Ex hitting oil storage in Moscow (recall refineries are very robust, so drone hits to them may produce photogenic fires but are usually not terribly consequential), the damage so far does not appear severe, but reports are still coming in:
Ukraine carried out the biggest drone attack on Moscow in years, hitting a refinery, a fuel depot and industrial facilities. Drone debris was burning on the tarmac of the Sheremetyevo airport. Authorities say 3 people were killed, more than a dozen injured. Ukraine struck after… pic.twitter.com/r9StAhCw6T
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) May 17, 2026
Photos shared by Moscow regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov show the aftermath of overnight drone attacks in the Moscow region. Authorities say at least four people were killed and 12 injured, with strikes reported near a Moscow oil refinery entrance.#Russia #Ukraine #Moscow… pic.twitter.com/1NDFCE22Bs
— APT News (@APT__News) May 17, 2026
-1024x683.jpg "Strait Outta Hormuz: Getting the Iran Oil Story Straight")
