Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in St Petersburg early on Wednesday, hours before international guests gathered for the city’s flagship economic forum, in a blow to Vladimir Putin.
Several long-range drones crashed into oil storage facilities after Russian air defences failed to shoot them down. There were loud explosions and black smoke rose high above the city from the blazing oil terminal.
St Petersburg’s governor, Alexander Beglov, said the Kirovsky and Krasnoselsky districts had been targeted. Ukraine also struck the nearby Kronstadt naval base and shipyard in Leningrad oblast, which is home to Russia’s Baltic fleet.
Video footage showed a Ukrainian drone flying low above the port and hitting a Russian guided-missile ship. The corvette, the Boikiy, caught fire. It was in dry dock undergoing repairs.
The strikes are deeply embarrassing for the Kremlin, taking place about 10 miles from the forum, where Putin is due to make a keynote speech on Friday. Guests arrived for Wednesday’s opening ceremony under a pall of thick smoke. Others were unable to fly in after St Petersburg’s airport was temporarily closed.
About 20,000 visitors from 130 countries are expected to attend the three-day annual summit, which has been described as Russia’s answer to Davos. They include the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the far-right American influencer Candace Owens and the Tate brothers.
Andrew Tate, the British-American self-described misogynist, landed in Moscow on Tuesday, together with his brother Tristan. They face criminal charges in Romania including forming a crime group, human trafficking and money laundering. British authorities have charged them with rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain. They deny all allegations.
Donald Trump has sent an official US delegation led by Rodney Mims Cook Jr. Cook is overseeing the president’s controversial White House ballroom extension and is chair of the US Commission of Fine Arts. Another guest is the former Hollywood actor and Putin supporter Steven Seagal.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on social media, said the strike was the latest example of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions”. He said drones had hit “important facilities on Russian territory”, including the Petersburg oil terminal, the Kronstadt base and a factory producing weapons in the Tambov region.
Zelenskyy noted that the oil trans-shipment facility, one of the largest on Russia’s Baltic Sea coast, was about 1,100km (680 miles) from Ukraine’s state border. “I thank our warriors for their precision. Ukraine’s plan for long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as needed to bring peace closer,” he said.
Speaking later alongside Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, in Kyiv, Zelenskyy described Wednesday’s strikes as fair. “Just a day ago, there was a massive attack. We responded accordingly,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time before we can scale up the intensity of our responses.”
Rutte said: “Russia’s recklessness is not new. But as Ukraine continues to stand strong, to innovate and to make battlefield gains, Russia is increasingly desperate.”
On Tuesday a barrage of Russian missiles and drones killed 23 people across Ukraine and injured scores more, prompting Zelenskyy to renew his plea – made in a letter last week to the White House – for the US to provide Kyiv with more Patriot interceptor missiles.
In recent months, Ukraine has waged an increasingly successful aerial campaign to disrupt Russia’s economy. Long-range drones have hit ports and oil storage facilities, military factories and airbases. They have blown up tankers and trucks on a crucial road connecting occupied southern Ukraine with Crimea, leading to fuel shortages across the peninsula.
Ukrainian officials shared video footage on Wednesday that showed drones buzzing noisily above St Petersburg’s skyline. “The Petersburg forum is opening with a nice plume of black smoke in the background after Ukrainian strikes,” posted Serhii Sternenko, an adviser to the country’s defence minister.
In the past, Russia has used the St Petersburg forum to court western investors. Since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, most have stayed away. The Kremlin has instead invited close regional and other allies, including this year the presidents of Uzbekistan and Tanzania, alongside ministers from Cuba, Belarus and Saudi Arabia.
Moscow’s economy envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, described the forum as a gathering of “sovereign countries”. He criticised “globalist” rivals who took part in the annual Davos gathering in Switzerland in January. “The countries of the global south are actively moving toward partnership with Russia and will be strongly represented,” he said.