Moscow, Oct 18 (EFE).- Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks of the war against Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, and the surrounding Leningrad region on Sunday, hitting oil terminals, digital infrastructure, and logistics facilities in a strike that killed one person, injured at least a dozen and disrupted air travel.
The overnight assault came as US President Donald Trump moved to ease pressure on Moscow, halting the planned implementation of a sanctions package targeting Russian oil imports and its so-called shadow fleet, while Washington and the Kremlin pursued a deal for Russian diesel supplies to the United States.
Around 150 drones targeted infrastructure in and around St. Petersburg, Russian authorities and local media reported.
The attack set fire to two oil terminals, damaged a data center and an e-commerce warehouse, and temporarily left around 20,000 people without electricity.
“I haven’t been able to sleep all night. The battle between drones and anti-aircraft missiles took place literally over our heads,” a resident of the former imperial capital told EFE.
St. Petersburg Governor Alexandr Glebov reported one death and around a dozen injuries, five of whom remained hospitalized. Preliminary information indicated that the victim died when debris from a fixed-wing drone fell onto his car.
Several apartment buildings and two private houses were damaged, forcing residents of some buildings to evacuate to cultural centers. A drone also struck a bridge, while a hospital and sections of an urban highway had to close.
Oil terminals and digital infrastructure hit
Fires broke out at two oil terminals, according to local authorities and Telegram channels. One of them, Ruchi, is the city’s largest, with storage capacity of nearly 74,000 cubic meters.
Videos posted on social media showed flames rising from the facilities. Local media reported that the second terminal has 21 fuel tanks.
The strikes came as Moscow prepared to supply diesel to the US market under an emerging agreement with the Trump administration, which has presented the move as a way to lower fuel prices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Novak said Sunday that deliveries could begin 15 to 20 days after contracts are signed with US companies. The supplies have not yet started.
Trump has argued that his priority is protecting the interests of American farmers and truckers rather than those of Ukraine.
His administration’s decision to halt the planned entry into force of the Graham Act sanctions package on Sunday marked another easing of pressure on Moscow, although the precise scope and duration of the suspension were not detailed in the report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries on Thursday, after Washington announced an energy truce that Kyiv says Moscow has repeatedly violated. Ukraine reported 76 Russian attacks on energy infrastructure since the announcement.
Sunday’s assault extended beyond the energy sector. Drones damaged a data center belonging to Vkontakte,
Russia’s leading social network, in the Leningrad region and set fire to a warehouse covering nearly 80,000 square meters operated by online retailer Ozon, according to the Astra news channel.
The strikes followed Putin’s order on Saturday for a government program to rebuild commercial and logistics infrastructure damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks. In recent weeks, Ukraine has also targeted facilities belonging to technology giant Yandex and Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank.
Damage to the Vostochnaya electrical substation left around 20,000 people without power for several hours, according to preliminary estimates.
Airport disruption spreads
Security restrictions were imposed at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport as fires broke out at several facilities across the city. Moscow’s main airports have also faced repeated disruptions in recent days, with hundreds of flights canceled or delayed and some passengers reportedly stranded for as long as 40 hours.
A flight from Egypt was forced to land in Finland on Sunday.
The attacks reflect Ukraine’s expanding campaign to disrupt Russian logistics, energy supplies and air transport as Moscow continues its strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure ahead of winter.
Zelenskyy has previously warned foreign airlines about the risks of operating in Russia, while Putin has described Ukraine’s efforts to disrupt Russian air traffic as “state terrorism.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems had shot down more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones overnight across 15 regions in the European part of the country and the annexed Crimean peninsula, though it did not provide an independently verified breakdown of the figures. EFE
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