A major Ukrainian drone offensive set a Russian oil terminal and a data centre in St Petersburg on fire, coming after Donald Trump’s decision to waive sanctions and “slow down” satellites.
One person was killed and five others were injured, while flames spread to industrial warehouses across the city, St Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov said on Sunday.
Russian e-commerce giant Ozon said its logistics hub in St Petersburg had caught fire. A data centre in the Leningrad region, operated by internet company VK, was also targeted.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Vladimir Putin’s air defence forces had intercepted 1,015 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight.
State-run news agency TASS reported that the attacks also disrupted departures at Pulkovo, St Petersburg’s main airport.
The strike is likely to further strain relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his US counterpart, Mr Trump.
The US president this week signed an executive order blocking what he called “hellish sanctions” approved by Congress against Russia over the war.
The proposed 500 per cent tariffs on Russian energy supplies had threatened to complicate Mr Trump’s plans to increase the flow of Russian diesel to global markets.
A Russian oil terminal and a data centre in St Petersburg were set ablaze after Ukraine launched a massive drone attack
Smoke rises over the city after an air attack on the oil terminal in St Petersburg
Mr Trump wants to bring down fuel prices in the United States ahead of the crucial midterm elections on November 3.
His decision came after reports that Starlink internet access for Ukrainian forces had been partially restricted, along with threats to suspend intelligence sharing with Kyiv. Mr Zelensky criticised both measures.
After Mr Zelensky renewed attacks on Russian oil refineries this week, Mr Trump described the strikes as a “disgrace” and said he was “more difficult to deal with than [Vladimir] Putin”.
Speculation has grown that the relationship between the two leaders is at “breaking point”, and the latest drone attacks are unlikely to improve the situation.
Images from St Petersburg showed towering clouds of orange and black smoke spreading across the sky and lighting up the city.
VK said its services had returned to normal and were available to users following the attack.
“A large-scale UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attack continues to be repelled,” Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko wrote on Telegram.
He said debris had landed on houses, cars and power lines, briefly cutting electricity in some areas, but reported no injuries.
Governor Alexander Beglov said the Ukrainian assault had started a fire at the St Petersburg Oil Terminal, which was also struck by Ukraine in June.
Pulkovo airport was meanwhile restricting operations “for safety reasons”, Mr Beglov said.
Russia has attacked Ukraine’s energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week since Mr Trump announced a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure, Mr Zelensky said on Sunday.
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Neither Kyiv nor Moscow confirmed Trump’s announced ceasefire agreement.
One person was killed and five injured in the strike with fires spreading to industrial warehouses in the city, governor Alexander Beglov said on Sunday
Pictures showed plumes of orange and black smoke drifting into the St Petersburg sky and illuminating the city
The attack follows quickly on from a relentless Ukrainian drone attack which prompted unprecedented airport chaos in Russia.
Ukraine flew dozens of drones into Moscow’s airspace to deliberately wreak havoc.
Fury and frustration grew as travellers faced hours or even days of delays caused by Putin refusing to halt his war.
Footage showed angry passengers forced to sleep on floors at Moscow’s four airports, which suffered more than 1,000 hours of closures this month.
Check-in staff were reduced to tears as Mr Zelensky started to carry out his threat to close the skies around the Russian capital.
Sheremetyevo Airport was hit by more than 100 disruptions on Saturday while Vnukovo Airport suffered 150 delays or cancellations.
Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin said: ‘Seventy-five drones heading towards Moscow have been destroyed. Emergency services specialists are working at the crash sites.’
On Monday, Kirill Dmitriev, special presidential envoy, described Mr Trump’s decision to waive the US sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia’s energy revenues as a ‘historic moment’.
Mr Dmitriev said: ‘The Trump administration’s suspension of the Graham Act is an important and truly historic moment.’
He added that the sanctions would have caused ‘serious damage first and foremost to the US economy and global markets’.
The Graham Act, named after the late senator Lindsey Graham, the primary backer of the legislation, was due to be implemented in two days, and was set to introduce sanctions on Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers that keeps Russian energy moving.
Speaking to broadcaster Newsmax this week, President Trump blamed Mr Zelensky for the war, claiming he – not Putin – had ‘destroyed’ Ukraine.
A huge crowd of passengers left stranded at an airport in Moscow after Ukrainian drone attacks this week caused flights to be delayed for hours
In an interview with the Financial Times, the Ukrainian leader said the cutting off of US intelligence sharing and the simultaneous weakening of the Starlink satellite internet service was ‘dangerous’ for civilians.
He added: ‘The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done.’
‘Well, I think that’s a disgrace,’ Trump said yesterday, adding that Kyiv’s recent strikes were driving up global energy prices.
Ukrainians wanted a deal with Russia but ‘they’re not going to do it with him,’ he added. ‘He says he wants to settle but he doesn’t. No, I’m not a big fan of Zelensky.’