The war Moscow wants to keep far from its own citizens has come home again - literally. Ukrainian drones struck Moscow's largest oil refinery and a fuel depot in the Krasnodar region, in one of the deepest strikes yet. The refinery sits just 15 kilometers from the Kremlin.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin first reported that over 35 drones were intercepted above the region around 5 a.m., and the figure later climbed to more than 60. Still, some got through - the refinery that was hit, owned by Gazprom Neft, supplies around 40 percent of Moscow's fuel market and covers close to 70 percent of regional gasoline consumption. In the Krasnodar region, meanwhile, over 500 gas stations are facing shortages.

Kyiv made no secret that this is a deliberate strategy. „Ukrainian long-range weapons are an important component of pressure. This is a just response to Russian attacks and to the prolonging of the war," said President Zelensky. The drones used were the „Lyutyi" - homegrown Ukrainian models, with a range of over 1,000 kilometers and a 75-kilogram warhead.

When the war reaches the ordinary citizen's gas pump, the abstraction disappears. The Balkans know all too well that in the end every war is measured in queues at the pump, in empty tanks, and in prices that jump overnight. However much Moscow kept the war „somewhere far away," the drone doesn't read propaganda - it flies 500 kilometers and lands where it hurts most.