St. Petersburg hit as Ukraine deploys more than 1,000 drones

Ukrainian drone attacks set fire to oil export and storage facilities in St. Petersburg Sunday, killing one person and wounding five others. Local Governor Alexander Beglov identified the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchi oil depot as the primary locations of the blaze, while local officials also confirmed that a logistics center operated by the retailer Ozon and a data center run by VK were targeted during the same surge of strikes.

Moscow declared it had neutralized the threat, with its Defense Ministry stating that 1,015 Ukrainian drones were destroyed across 15 Russian regions, Crimea, and the Black Sea. The scale of the offensive represents one of the largest aerial attacks of the conflict, occurring days after Kyiv announced it would resume targeted strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

The operations unfolded against a backdrop of fractured diplomacy. President Trump signed an executive order on Friday that waived planned U.S. sanctions against Russia, citing national interests, a move that prompted criticism from Kyiv. Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, President Zelenskyy characterized the waiver as a historic mistake that only bolsters Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.