memur, Laos
Ukraine sets Moscow refinery ablaze in biggest attack in years
Ukraine on Thursday launched its largest drone attack on Moscow in years, sparking fires, hitting a major oil refinery and forcing evacuations at the country’s largest airport. Russia vowed to retaliate for the attack as AFP reporters saw dramatic scenes of black smoke billowing over the capital’s southern skyline and drops of black rain mixed with soot falling from the sky. At least 17 people were wounded in the strikes, which also set a shopping centre and apartment building ablaze, authorities said. The attack came as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Southeast Asian leaders at a summit in the central city of Kazan, about 700 kilometres east of Moscow. @dawn.today Scores of Ukrainian drones bore down on Moscow on Thursday (June 18), hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the second time this week in what Kyiv cast as a demonstration of its growing capabilities that should force Russia to accept a peace deal. A video posted on social media showed a moment of explosion at the refinery in the densely populated southeastern district of Kapotnya. The refinery is supplying the Russian capital. Via Reuters DawnToday ♬ original sound - Dawn.com - Dawn.com The Russian leader had yet to comment on the strikes, despite issuing press statements throughout the day, though his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov vowed Moscow would retaliate with its own “massive” strikes on Ukraine. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack was an “absolutely justified response” to deadly strikes on Kyiv — including one earlier this week on a landmark cathedral and a Unesco-protected 11th-century monastery. He said he wanted Russians to put pressure on Putin for the consequences of Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. “The main thing is that the people of Russia begin to feel that it is one man, Putin, who is waging this war, while ordinary people pay the price for everything,” Zelensky told reporters, including AFP. “If Ukraine is going to burn, your Moscow will burn too.” Moscow has hit Ukraine with daily barrages of missiles and drones. Airport closures It was the second time this month that Kyiv launched a major attack during an international summit, after striking Saint Petersburg at the start of a landmark economic forum near the city. Moscow’s airports were shut for hours, leading to hundreds of flight delays. The country’s busiest — Sheremetyevo — announced it had evacuated passengers to “safe locations” during the barrage, before it re-opened at around 11am (0800 GMT). Konstantin, walking near the refinery in the southeastern Kapotnya district, told AFP he had “never seen anything like it”. An apartment building damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack in Zhukovsky, in the Moscow region, Russia on June 18, 2026. — Reuters Valentina, a 29-year-old manager, said she was woken up by the noise. “It’s really scary,” she told AFP, walking in the park with her daughter, the huge column of smoke behind them. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that “several drones” had reached the Moscow oil refinery, without specifying damage to the facility. Authorities announced they had closed traffic on the streets nearby. Another drone crashed into an apartment building, while drone debris sparked a fire at a shopping centre near the capital’s suburbs. One social media video showed smoke pouring from the upper floors of an apartment block, while a woman behind the camera could be heard weeping in distress. ‘Long-range sanctions’ Russian air defences shot down around 180 drones on approach to Moscow, Sobyanin said, while the defence ministry reported it had intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones across the entire country overnight. Kyiv has stepped up its drone strikes on Russia in recent months — calling them “long-range sanctions” and hitting oil refineries that fund Moscow’s war chest. It was the second Ukrainian strike on the Moscow refinery this week. Diplomatic talks on ending the more than four-year conflict remain stalled. “It is time the war ended, and Russia must take the necessary steps in diplomacy,” Zelensky said after the strike. Russia also launched more than 200 drones and multiple ballistic missiles at Ukraine between late Wednesday and early Thursday, according to the Ukrainian air force. AFP reporters in Kyiv saw people rushing to shelters in the early hours after air defence blasts rocked over the Ukrainian capital. Putin in Kazan In the hours following the attack, Putin posed for a photo with leaders at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Kazan and made no mention of the strike in his opening remarks to the forum. Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore sent their prime ministers to Kazan, while the Philippines sent President Ferdinand Marcos. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Laos’ Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone on the sidelines of the Russia-Asean Summit in Kazan, Russia on June 18, 2026. — Reuters Putin has long sought to project stability in Russia, despite the economic and social effects of his four-year offensive on Ukraine. But a recent spate of attacks has forced the Kremlin to respond. After Kyiv launched similar attacks on Saint Petersburg earlier this month, the Russian leader promised to bolster air defences. US leader Donald Trump this week said Moscow should “make a deal” to end the Ukraine war.
Ukrayna’nın drone saldırıları Rusya’da can kaybına ve altyapı hasarına yol açtıTalks with Prime Minister of Laos Sonexay Siphandone
Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic Sonexay Siphandone on the sidelines of the Russia – ASEAN Summit. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, I am delighted to see you in Kazan, where the Russia – ASEAN Summit has just concluded. We attached special importance to its success in the year of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Russia-ASEAN relations. We highly appreciate Vientiane’s unwavering assistance to the development of Russia-ASEAN interaction. I recall our meeting during the Eastern Economic Forum held in Vladivostok in September 2025. I, and all our Russian colleagues, know you as a good friend of our country, with which you have maintained ties since the Soviet era. Just recently, on May 9, President Sisoulith visited our country for the Victory Day celebrations. We are grateful to him for that gesture of solidarity, as well as for dispatching a unit of the Lao People’s Army to the parade marking the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory last year. I have received his message of greetings on Russia Day. Please convey our sincere gratitude for his message along with my best wishes. We highly value our relations with Laos, which have always been based on friendship, mutual respect and a balance of each other’s interests. Last year, we marked 65 years of our diplomatic relations, and in October this year we will mark 15 years of the Declaration on the Strategic Partnership in the Asia-Pacific Region between our countries. I know that before the summit you held talks in Moscow where you substantively discussed measures to deepen cooperation in energy, industry, agriculture, exploration and mining, the digital economy, banking, transport, tourism and education. The signing of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy is a significant achievement. It provides the necessary legal basis for building a small nuclear power plant to a Russian design in Laos. To be continued.
Russia – ASEAN Summit
Vladimir Putin is taking part in the anniversary plenary sessions of the 5th Russia – Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, marking 35 years since the establishment of their relations. The agenda for the meeting in Kazan includes a review of the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and ASEAN, as well as new avenues for collaboration on the political, economic and humanitarian tracks, and an exchange of views on the latest international and regional developments. Heads of the delegations taking part in the summit posed for a group photo ahead of the first plenary meeting. ASEAN includes 11 Southeast Asian countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. Russia has been ASEAN’s full-scale dialogue partner since July 1996. Taking part in the summit are Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia Hun Manet, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Indonesia Sugiono, Prime Minister of Lao PDR Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, Presidential Special Representative and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar hau Khan Sum, President of the Republic of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand Anutin Charnvirakul, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Xanana Gusmão, and Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Le Minh Hung. Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Dr Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Nurlan Yermekbayev, and Chair of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s (EEC) Board Bakytzhan Sagintayev are also taking part in the summit. * * * Opening remarks by the President of Russia at the 5th Russia – ASEAN Summit President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends, I am delighted to welcome all of you to Kazan for the anniversary Russia – ASEAN Summit, which marks 35 years since the establishment of relations between Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Friends, many of you have visited our country in the past, while for some, this is their first time here. Welcome to everyone. Delegations at the previous Russia – ASEAN meeting did not include Timor-Leste, which joined ASEAN in 2025. We are delighted to have the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste with us today. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is an authoritative organisation extending beyond the Asia-Pacific region. Relevant on a global scale, it has withstood the test of time, building a system of cooperation between states founded on universally recognised norms of international law and mutual respect for each other’s interests. These are precisely the principles underpinning Russia-ASEAN relations. It is a strategic partnership that serves as an essential stabilising factor in the Asia-Pacific amidst geopolitical turbulence, contributing to the formation of a balanced security architecture and equitable mutually beneficial cooperation. Today’s agenda is as follows: we will exchange opinions on topical regional and international issues, share assessments of the outcomes of Russia-ASEAN cooperation over the past 35 years, and discuss future areas, tasks and objectives of the Russia-ASEAN strategic partnership. It goes without saying that our discussion may cover other issues as well. Please feel free to raise any matters you deem worthy of discussion. Our cooperation demonstrates clear results. We have developed a robust legal and regulatory framework to govern our relations, as well as an extensive network of joint mechanisms. We have launched new dialogue platforms. We have expanded the scope of practical cooperation in such areas as combating new security challenges and threats, as well as trade and investment, energy, agriculture, digitalisation, science and technology, tourism, and humanitarian contacts more broadly. I hope this day will be productive and we will have a constructive and engaged exchange of opinions, as always. I will be co-hosting this meeting with the President of the Republic of the Philippines, a country chairing ASEAN this year. With great pleasure, I pass the floor to Mr Ferdinand Marcos for his opening remarks. Mr President, please. To be continued.