Ukrainian Drones Strike St Petersburg Oil Terminal and Port Infrastructure in Overnight Attack]

Ukrainian Drones Strike St Petersburg Oil Terminal and Port Infrastructure in Overnight Attack]

Ukraine launched a significant overnight drone assault on St Petersburg and its surrounding regions, with attacks targeting the city’s oil terminal and port facilities, according to officials.

St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov reported that the city experienced a “large-scale” drone attack on its oil terminal but confirmed there were no casualties and subsequent incidents were manageable.

In the broader Leningrad region northwest of the city, Governor Alexander Drozdenko stated that a drone struck the Vysotsk port area—located approximately 170 kilometers north-west of St Petersburg on the Baltic Sea. The port specializes in handling oil, grain, coal, and liquefied natural gas.

Drozdenko said Russian air defenses shot down 72 drones over the region, with minor damage reported in multiple settlements. He provided no details regarding the impact on Vysotsk port operations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized the attack as part of Ukraine’s ongoing “long-range sanctions” campaign against Russia, claiming his forces struck port oil infrastructure that funds Russia’s war effort and hit Kronstadt, a key military installation more than 850 kilometers from Ukraine’s border.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the energy facility strikes as “not critical.”

Russian authorities did not confirm the alleged strike on Kronstadt, a major naval base near St Petersburg that Ukraine targeted the previous month.

Ukraine has escalated attacks on Russian energy infrastructure this year, causing extensive damage to refineries and triggering fuel shortages across the country’s 11 time zones.

Elsewhere, Russia’s Bryansk region governor and the Kremlin-appointed Crimea governor reported that drone strikes killed one person in each region, with several others injured.

South of St Petersburg, the Pskov region governor said over 30 drones were intercepted overnight, reporting minor damage and injuries including at a factory in Velikiye Luki.

Zelenskyy also refuted Russian claims that the eastern city of Kostiantynivka had been captured by Moscow’s forces.

Russia’s military informed President Putin on Friday that its forces had seized control of the city, a strategic target in Moscow’s ongoing push through the Donetsk region.

Zelenskyy denied these allegations on social media, writing: “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 [the Russian president, Vladimir] Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic way to finally end this war.”

Ukraine’s general staff confirmed that military units from the 19th army corps continue defensive operations within the town and its approaches.

Kostiantynivka represents the southernmost position in a critical defensive line that Ukraine is using to protect the final portion of the industrially significant Donetsk region.

Russia’s defense ministry additionally claimed capture of five villages in eastern Ukraine: Shyikivka, Novyi Myr, Cherneshchyna, and Druzhelyubivka in Kharkiv region, and Vasylivka in Donetsk region.

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