St Petersburg, Russia. Russia’s second city of St Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region came under what officials described as a large Ukrainian drone attack overnight on Saturday, with strikes reported on oil infrastructure and a port facility. Russian and Ukrainian authorities also reported damage, casualties and interceptions in other regions.
St Petersburg and Vysotsk strikes
St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said the city of 6 million had been subjected to a “large-scale” drone attack and that the city’s oil terminal had been struck. He said there were no casualties and that the aftermath of the attack had been dealt with.
Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said drones had struck the port of Vysotsk, about 170 km northwest of St Petersburg on the Baltic Sea. The port handles oil, grain, coal and liquefied natural gas.
Drozdenko said 72 drones had been shot down over the Leningrad region.
Ukraine statement on targets
In a post on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: “Ukraine’s defence forces struck port oil infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia’s war, and also hit Kronstadt, an important military target more than 850 km from Ukraine’s state border.”
There was no information from Russia on a strike on Kronstadt, a major naval base close to St Petersburg that Ukraine hit in a previous attack on the city in June.
Broader pattern of attacks
Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure this year, causing fuel shortages in parts of Russia.
Elsewhere, the governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, as well as the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, said that drone strikes had killed one person in each region, with several more wounded.
South of St Petersburg, the governor of Pskov region said more than 30 drones had been shot down overnight. He reported minor damage and injuries, including to a factory in the town of Velikiye Luki.