ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA — An overnight drone attack on St. Petersburg killed at least one person and injured five, hitting two oil facilities and other civilian infrastructure. Fires erupted at the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchyi oil depot, Governor Alexander Beglov said.
The assault also struck a logistics center belonging to Ozon, a major Russian e-commerce company, and a regional data center operated by VKontakte, Russia's social media platform. Beglov reported that 12 apartment buildings and two homes sustained damage.
Pulkovo Airport temporarily closed following the strikes. Mobile internet service disruptions were possible, according to Beglov. VKontakte confirmed its data center was targeted but said services remained available despite early morning outages. Ozon confirmed a drone hit its logistics center, sparking a fire. The company evacuated staff, reported no injuries, and halted shipment acceptance at that location.
Kyiv has not officially commented on the strikes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia had attacked Ukraine's energy sector 76 times since President Donald Trump called for an energy ceasefire last week.
Ukraine paused strikes on Russian oil facilities for three days after Trump's announcement. Kyiv says these strikes are designed to limit Moscow's war revenue. Ukraine resumed attacks earlier this week, prompting criticism from Trump, who called for a truce to support negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin over diesel supplies.
The U.S. agreement to import Russian diesel has strained relations between Washington and Kyiv. The deal aimed to reduce U.S. energy prices ahead of midterm elections. Zelensky suggested it effectively meant the U.S. was investing in Russia's war effort.
Trump's temporary suspension of sanctions against Russia has also drawn criticism, including from some U.S. Republicans. Russia's defense ministry said it shot down more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight into Sunday.
St. Petersburg, though less frequently targeted than regions closer to Ukraine, has been struck before. The city's oil terminal was last hit in July. Both Russia and Ukraine have escalated attacks on each other's energy infrastructure as winter approaches, with Moscow's full-scale invasion now in its fifth year.
Earlier this month, Ukraine launched strikes that disrupted Yandex, Russia's largest search engine.
