Ukraine launched a major overnight drone attack on St Petersburg and the surrounding region, striking the city's oil terminal and port infrastructure, according to local officials and the Ukrainian president.
St Petersburg governor reports no casualties after 'large-scale' attack
St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said the city had been subjected to a 'large-scale' drone attack that hit its oil terminal. He reported no casualties and stated that the aftermath of the attack had been dealt with. The attack also targeted the Baltic port of Vysotsk, about 170km (105 miles) north-west of St Petersburg, which handles oil, grain, coal, and liquefied natural gas.
Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region, confirmed that a drone struck the area of Vysotsk port. He said 72 drones had been shot down over the region, with minor damage in several settlements. He did not provide information on the impact on Vysotsk port.
Zelenskyy describes attacks as 'long-range sanctions'
In a Telegram post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as part of Ukraine's 'long-range sanctions' against Russia. He stated: '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 850km (530 miles) from Ukraine's state border.' Kronstadt is a major naval base near St Petersburg that Ukraine also targeted in an attack last month; Russia did not confirm a strike there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the strikes on energy facilities as 'not critical'. Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure this year, inflicting heavy damage on refineries and causing petrol shortages across the country's 11 time zones.
Drone strikes kill one in Bryansk and Crimea
In other regions, the governor of Russia's Bryansk region and the Russian-installed governor of Crimea reported drone strikes that 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, with minor damage and injuries, including at a factory in the town of Velikiye Luki.
Zelenskyy denies Russian capture of Kostiantynivka
Zelenskyy also denied Russian claims that the eastern city of Kostiantynivka had been captured by Moscow's military. Russia's military told President Putin on Friday that its forces had taken control of the city, a target long sought in the Donetsk region. Zelenskyy wrote on X: 'Of course, that is not true. It is just another Russian lie, an attempt to generate some kind of a news story. If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war.'
Ukraine's general staff confirmed that Kostiantynivka remained under Ukrainian control, stating: 'Military units and subunits of the 19th army corps of the eastern grouping continue to conduct defensive operations on designated lines within the town and on its approaches.' Kostiantynivka is the southernmost of four key settlements forming a defensive line central to Ukraine's effort to hold part of the Donetsk region. Russia's defence ministry also claimed it had taken five villages in eastern Ukraine: Shyikivka, Novyi Myr, Cherneshchyna and Druzhelyubivka in Kharkiv region, and Vasylivka in Donetsk region.
