Ukrainian Defense Forces drones attacked the territory of Thermal Power Plant No. 22 in Dzerzhinsky, in Russia’s Moscow region, on September 20, according to Ukrainian defence outlet Militarnyi. Photo and video material published by the Exilenova+ channel showed a fire at the facility following reports of explosions in the Dzerzhinsky and Lyubertsy area.
The available footage indicates that a fire broke out at the power plant, but the report did not provide an official damage assessment or establish the extent of any effect on generating equipment, heat supply or plant operations. No timetable for restoration work, if required, was reported.
Militarnyi described the reported attack as one element of a wider Ukrainian combined operation against several facilities in the Moscow region. The Moscow oil refinery in Kapotnya was identified as the operation’s main target and was reportedly attacked on the morning of September 20. A warehouse run by LLC Modern Warehouse Technologies in the Moscow region was also reported to have been targeted.
Power station’s refinery connection
Thermal Power Plant No. 22 is located only a few kilometres from the Moscow oil refinery; Militarnyi placed the distance between the two facilities at about 2 km. The outlet said the station’s importance is closely connected to its support for the refinery as well as its role in the regional power-and-heat network.
The plant has a stated capacity of 1,375 MW. It supplies electricity and heat to southeastern Moscow, Dzerzhinsky and parts of Lyubertsy, while also providing process steam to the Moscow oil refinery. Militarnyi said substantial damage to the station could disrupt energy supply in the surrounding area and complicate refinery operations; the report did not say that such disruption had been confirmed.
The Kapotnya refinery is among Russia’s 10 largest refining facilities, according to Militarnyi. It supplies approximately 40% of demand for petroleum products in Moscow and the wider Moscow region and has a crude-oil processing capacity of 11 million tonnes annually. The report described it as one of the most compact refineries in its class, with an area of 284 hectares.
The reported combination of targets linked a power-and-heat supplier, a major refining installation and a warehouse in the Moscow region. Militarnyi’s account did not specify the drone types used, the number of aircraft involved, launch locations, or which individual systems at any of the reported target sites may have been affected.
Moscow reports large number of interceptions
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin commented on the aftermath of the attacks but did not mention the reported strike on Thermal Power Plant No. 22, according to Militarnyi. Sobyanin said Russian forces had destroyed more than 1,600 unmanned aerial vehicles since September 19, including about 450 that he said had been approaching the capital.
Sobyanin’s figures were presented as a Russian official claim. The source report did not provide independent corroboration for the interception total, nor did it reconcile that claim with the footage showing a fire at the Dzerzhinsky facility. The footage and the report nevertheless place the plant among the sites said to have been targeted during the wider drone operation near Moscow.
