The Ukrainian capital came under ballistic missile attack in the early hours of Thursday, sending residents scrambling for shelter just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky concluded talks with G7 leaders and US President Donald Trump. Air raid sirens wailed across Kyiv as AFP journalists on the ground reported hearing the distinct sound of a missile followed by two explosions. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, confirmed the strike and urged civilians to remain in safe places until the all-clear. While no casualties were immediately reported in the capital, authorities in the northeastern city of Sumy said one person was killed in a separate drone attack, and alerts were issued for most of Ukraine’s territory, including the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

Almost simultaneously, Ukrainian drones penetrated Russian air defences to strike a strategic target deep inside Moscow. The Kapotnya oil refinery in the city’s southeast was hit, sending flames and thick plumes of smoke into the night sky, according to witnesses cited by Reuters. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defence systems had downed fifteen drones heading for the capital, but acknowledged that several managed to reach the refinery, where emergency crews were working to contain the damage. In a separate incident, a strike on the southern Russian city of Rostov killed one person and injured two, regional officials said, underscoring the widening geographical scope of the cross-border exchanges.

The synchronised escalation unfolded against a charged diplomatic backdrop. Zelensky, speaking from France, described his conversation with Trump and President Emmanuel Macron as “important”, coming on the margins of a G7 gathering that produced fresh pledges of military and financial support for Kyiv and a commitment to tighten sanctions on Moscow. Trump, who has oscillated between pressuring Kyiv and threatening Moscow, used the summit to urge Russia to “make a deal”, hinting that lifted sanctions could be reimposed. Viewed from European capitals, the Kremlin’s decision to launch a high-profile missile barrage on Kyiv immediately after these pledges looks like a deliberate signal of defiance.

Analysts in London note that the intensifying tit-for-tat strikes—now routinely reaching each side’s capital—mark a dangerous new phase in a conflict well into its fifth year. Ukraine’s ability to hit a major oil refinery inside Moscow’s city limits demonstrates a growing long-range strike capability that challenges Russian assumptions of strategic depth. Meanwhile, Russia’s sustained use of ballistic missiles against Kyiv, often in the wake of diplomatic engagements, suggests an effort to undermine Western unity by demonstrating that support for Ukraine invites immediate retaliation. With civilian casualties mounting on both sides and no meaningful ceasefire talks on the horizon, the aerial war looks set to deepen, leaving populations in both countries increasingly exposed.