Ukrainian drones hit St. Petersburg oil terminal

Ukrainian long-range drones struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg early Wednesday, sending black smoke over the Russian city’s port hours before the start of a major international economic forum promoted by President Vladimir Putin.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal was among “important facilities on Russian territory” hit overnight. The drones flew more than 1,000 kilometers, or 600 miles, to reach the target, he said on social media.

“Ukraine’s plan for long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as needed to bring peace closer,” Zelenskyy wrote.

Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones targeted infrastructure in the city but did not provide details on the oil terminal. St. Petersburg Mayor Alexander Beglov said emergency crews were responding and assessing damage. Local authorities reported several injuries. The city’s airport briefly suspended flights overnight because of the attack, and authorities also cut mobile internet services, NPR reported.

The attack landed on the opening day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual event the Kremlin uses to draw senior officials, business leaders and foreign delegations. Putin is scheduled to speak Friday. The forum, often associated with Putin’s efforts to project economic resilience despite the war and Western sanctions, is being held this year with Saudi Arabia as the special guest country and a high-level business delegation expected. Senior officials from countries including Iran and China are also among prominent guests.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that a U.S. delegation would attend the event for the first time in many years, led by Rodney Cook, chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts. Right-wing influencer Candace Owens is also set to play a prominent role, NBC News reported.

The broader Leningrad region, which includes St. Petersburg, also came under attack. Regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said Russian air defenses intercepted 50 Ukrainian drones overnight. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses downed 13 drones approaching the capital. Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 354 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian drones hit the Kronstadt naval base, an old base for Russia’s Baltic Fleet, and a manufacturing plant involved in weapons production in Russia’s Tambov region, about 600 kilometers, or 370 miles, from Ukraine.

In Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a Ukrainian strike hit a passenger bus traveling from Moscow to Crimea, killing seven people and injuring 11, according to Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-appointed head of the area. In Russia’s Smolensk region, two firefighters were killed by a Ukrainian drone attack, Gov. Vasily Anokhin said. He said two other firefighters and a local resident were injured.

The Ukrainian strikes came a day after Russia launched one of its largest aerial attacks on Ukraine in months, killing at least 22 civilians and wounding more than 100 people across several major cities. NPR reported 138 people were wounded in that barrage.

Russia fired 198 long-range drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said, adding that air defenses neutralized 189. Authorities in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region said Russian strikes over the previous 24 hours killed one civilian and injured 15 others, including three children. In the southern Kherson region, overnight Russian shelling and drone strikes killed an 86-year-old woman and wounded five other people, regional authorities said.

With peace talks deadlocked and battlefield movement limited, both sides have intensified long-range aerial attacks. Ukrainian strikes in recent months have often targeted Russia’s energy infrastructure, which Kyiv says helps sustain Moscow’s war effort.

“Russia is once again demonstrating its unwillingness to engage in any pragmatic dialogue on ending the war against Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Security Service said Wednesday, referring to the forum’s slogan, “Pragmatic Dialogue — the Path to a Stable Future.”

“The longer Russia chooses war over peace, the more frequently the facilities sustaining that war will burn,” it said.