Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal in St Petersburg and a war ship in dry-dock at a nearby naval base, hours before Vladimir Putin’s showcase economic forum got under way in the city, in a clear attempt to embarrass Russia’s president.
The attack on Putin’s home city, location of his own “Davos” – a glitzy annual economic forum designed to attract foreign investment – comes as both sides increase strikes against each other in their four-year-old war with no imminent end in sight.
The Kremlin said Russia would keep striking Ukraine systematically in response to such attacks, part of what it has described as a new “paradigm” in the conflict.
Unspecified “infrastructure objects” had been attacked in three districts of Russia’s second-biggest city and home to more than five million people, Alexander Beglov, its governor, said. Air defences shot down 59 Ukrainian drones overnight, Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the surrounding Leningrad region, said.
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“Several facilities have been damaged. Clean-up operations are currently under way. Several people have been injured. There have been no fatalities,” Beglov said in a statement.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed the drones had struck the fuel terminal and said they had also targeted a military facility in Kronstadt on an island near the city where elements of Russia’s Baltic fleet and major shipbuilding and repair facilities are located.
Ukraine released a video which showed a drone striking a Russian warship, the corvette Boiky, in what it said was a dry dock at Kronstadt. Reuters was able to verify the location of the attack and the model of the vessel, but could not independently verify how seriously the ship or the oil terminal had been damaged.
Unconfirmed video posted to social media showed locals filming Ukrainian aeroplane-style drones as they flew over parts of the city as fires appeared to rage at the export fuel terminal in the background. What sounded like anti-aircraft fire could be heard as one drone flew on unhindered.
Given the importance of the event to Moscow, the Ukrainian attack is likely to raise questions inside Russia about how effective its own air defence capabilities are, a problem that Ukraine is also grappling with.
The location of the economic forum itself was heavily protected and there was no suggestion that Ukrainian drones had got close to the venue.
[ Ukraine’s ramped-up drone power is transforming its fortunes against RussiaOpens in new window ]
A plume of grey smoke was visible from St Petersburg’s historic city centre and Reuters correspondents reported hearing loud explosions on Wednesday morning. The same explosions would also have been heard by hundreds of forum guests, some of whom had flown in ahead of the first day of discussion.
Some of the most prominent guests this year are from Saudi Arabia, including energy minister prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.
An eclectic group of Americans, including ex-Hollywood star Steven Seagal and right-wing influencer Candace Owens, were due to attend. Rodney Mims Cook jnr, named by US president Donald Trump to head the Commission of Fine Arts overseeing the construction of his White House ballroom, was the first serving US official to attend since 2018, according to the Kremlin.
The city’s Pulkovo airport had to temporarily restrict flights, Russia’s aviation watchdog said, and more than 30 flights were delayed or cancelled, local news outlets said.
The threat of Ukrainian drones last month disrupted another set-piece event – the annual May 9th Red Square military parade in Moscow to mark the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Russia decided not to display military hardware at the parade for the first time in years citing the Ukrainian threat. – Reuters
