A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Saint Petersburg and surrounding Leningrad region has killed one person, injured five others and sparked fires at oil facilities, according to Russian officials.
Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov disclosed the casualties on Sunday, describing the overnight assault as a “massive” drone attack.
“One person was killed and five others hurt and hospitalised following a massive attack carried out by Ukrainian Nazi military drones,” Beglov said.
He added that firefighters were battling blazes at the Saint Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpino district south of the city.
Several residential buildings and two houses were also reportedly hit during the attack, while air defence systems were deployed to counter the incoming drones.
The strikes disrupted operations at Saint Petersburg’s main airport, one of Russia’s busiest, with restrictions imposed for safety reasons, according to Beglov.
Meanwhile, Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the surrounding Leningrad region, said Russian air defences had shot down 145 drones as the large-scale attack continued.
He added that approximately 20,000 people were left without electricity following the raid.
“A large-scale UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attack continues to be repelled,” Drozdenko wrote on Telegram.
The attack came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv would resume targeting Russian oil refineries, following the failure of an energy ceasefire proposed by United States President Donald Trump to materialise.
Zelensky has maintained that Ukraine’s strikes are a response to continued Russian attacks on its territory, including strikes on energy infrastructure, as American support for Kyiv has declined.
READ ALSO: Drone Attacks In Eastern Ukraine Claim Four Lives Amid Escalating Strikes
Saint Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region host major oil infrastructure that Ukraine has increasingly targeted in recent months as part of its campaign against Russia’s energy sector.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency described the latest assault as the largest attack on the region since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian officials previously reported that 144 drones were intercepted during an attack on June 6.
Russia’s Defence Ministry separately said its forces had neutralised 1,015 Ukrainian drones overnight across approximately 15 regions in the country’s south and west, including the Moscow region.
The Russian social networking platform VK also reported that one of its data centres in the region had been targeted, but said the facility remained operational.
The latest strikes come amid continuing tensions over attacks on energy infrastructure and international efforts to influence the course of the war.
Trump, who has repeatedly criticised Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries and depots, signed an executive order on Friday waiving sanctions and tariffs targeting Moscow’s energy revenues.
The decision drew criticism from officials and commentators in Europe and the United States, particularly as Russia continued attacks on Ukraine in the fifth year of the conflict.