Massive Drone Strike Hits Russian Oil Sites as Attacks Continue in Ukraine
More than 1,000 Ukrainian drones were sent toward Russia in one of Ukraine’s largest aerial attacks of the war. At least one person was killed and five were injured, while fires broke out at oil and industrial sites near St. Petersburg.
Fires and Damage Near St. Petersburg
Fire crews worked to put out blazes at the St. Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpinsky district, south of the city. Several apartment buildings and two houses were also hit.
The attack disrupted flights at the city’s main airport, one of Russia’s busiest. Airport operations were limited for safety reasons.
A fire broke out at a logistics center in St. Petersburg. Drones also struck a data center in the wider Leningrad region. The company operating the center said its services remained available.
Regional officials said air defenses shot down 145 drones. About 20,000 people lost electricity. Russia’s Defense Ministry said 1,015 Ukrainian drones were stopped overnight across 15 Russian regions, Crimea and the Black Sea.
Disagreement Over Sanctions and Negotiations
The attacks came amid growing tension between Ukraine and the United States. The U.S. president criticized Ukraine’s strikes on Russian energy sites and defended delaying new sanctions against Moscow. He said he did not want to push Russia away from talks aimed at ending the war.
He argued that new sanctions could harm efforts to reach a diplomatic agreement. He also accused Ukraine’s president of not wanting to end the conflict, following Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities.
The U.S. president had said Russia and Ukraine agreed to stop attacking energy sites, but he did not explain the terms. Ukraine’s president later said he no longer considered the pause in effect. Ukraine had held back from striking Russian energy facilities, he said, while Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine.
Ukraine’s president said Russia had attacked Ukrainian energy, oil and gas facilities 76 times during the week after the ceasefire announcement. Strikes hit energy sites in four Ukrainian regions overnight, leaving tens of thousands of families without power. He accused Russia of trying to cause a widespread blackout.
He also said Russia had not taken matching steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements. In a television interview, he warned that easing sanctions would help Russia’s war effort. He said intelligence sharing between the United States and Ukraine had resumed after being stopped for a period.
Ukraine’s president said he trusted the U.S. president, but that siding with Moscow would be a tragedy and a historic mistake for the United States.
He also spoke with two U.S. presidential envoys about the outcome of a meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Miami and the next steps in diplomacy.
Russian Strikes Kill People in Ukraine
Russian attacks also caused deaths and injuries in Ukraine. In Kyiv, an overnight air strike killed a woman, damaged a 25-story apartment building and hit a subway station. Non-residential buildings and a medical facility were also struck. Three other people were injured.
Two Russian attacks on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed a woman and wounded at least two people, including a six-year-old girl.
In the Volyn region, strikes on homes killed two people and injured 12 others, including two children. An agricultural business in the region was also hit, and emergency teams went to the site.
Ukraine’s president said that over the past week Russia had attacked the country with nearly 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 66 missiles. Most of the missiles were ballistic.