Ukraine strikes St Petersburg during Putin’s economic forum
Kyiv’s latest long-range operation underscores the vulnerability of Russian infrastructure and follows the Kremlin’s rejection of a direct meeting proposal.
Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on the St Petersburg region on Saturday, marking the second major strike on Russia’s second-largest city in less than a week. The operation coincided with the final day of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual investment event hosted by President Vladimir Putin, which has been dubbed “Russia’s Davos” by international observers.
Russian authorities reported that air defences intercepted 376 Ukrainian drones in total, with 141 shot down over the surrounding Leningrad region. St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov advised residents to remain indoors and warned of potential disruptions to mobile internet services. This marked the first time such advice has been issued since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the drones targeted enemy navy arsenals and a base in Kronstadt, located approximately 1,000 kilometres away. The strike followed President Putin’s rejection of a proposal for a face-to-face meeting, which Zelensky had outlined in a letter on Thursday. That correspondence was the first public message written directly to Putin since the 2022 invasion and contained a critique of his 26-year rule.
The attack served as a direct rebuttal to Putin’s dismissal of the meeting offer. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha warned on social media that failures for Russia would become “more humiliating” and declared that there are “no safe places in Russia” exempt from long-range attacks. He added that the intensity of such operations would continue to grow.
Prior to the weekend’s offensive, a previous drone strike on Wednesday had set an oil terminal ablaze and hit a nearby naval base. In response to the escalating threats, Putin stated on Thursday that Russia would strengthen its air defences. Meanwhile, Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions overnight into Saturday, resulting in one death and several injuries in Ukraine.
