Officials in St. Petersburg warned residents to remain indoors Saturday morning following what they described as an extensive Ukrainian drone assault on Russia’s second-most populous city, highlighting Ukraine’s expanding capability to strike targets far within Russian territory.
St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov urged citizens to avoid going outdoors and cautioned that mobile internet services might experience interruptions.
Regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko reported that 141 drones were intercepted over the surrounding Leningrad region. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defense systems destroyed 376 Ukrainian drones.
While no immediate injuries were reported, this fresh assault on St. Petersburg delivers another humiliating setback to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to portray the war as a remote situation that doesn’t impact ordinary Russian citizens.
Saturday’s strike follows a Ukrainian drone operation that ignited an oil facility in the city and struck a nearby naval installation Wednesday, occurring just hours before the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum began – Putin’s yearly platform for attracting investment.
During his forum address, Putin announced Thursday that Russia would bolster its air defense capabilities to combat recent Ukrainian drone operations, which have penetrated far into his nation and overshadowed the event in his birthplace of St. Petersburg.
As the battle lines remain largely static while drone swarms impede military progress, both nations have pursued advantages through long-distance strikes.
In Ukraine, Russian forces killed one person and injured three others overnight in the Dnipropetrovsk region, striking three districts almost 30 times using drones and artillery, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha reported Saturday.
In Zaporizhzhia, five individuals required medical treatment following a Russian drone attack that ignited a fire in a parking area, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov.
Ukrainian air force officials said Saturday that Russia launched 272 attack drones against Ukraine overnight, with air defenses intercepting 249 of them.
These recent strikes occurred one day after Putin dismissed on Friday a suggestion by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for direct discussions about the four-year war, stating he found “no point” in such a meeting.
Thursday’s correspondence, marking the first public communication Zelenskyy has addressed directly to Putin since Russia deployed troops into Ukraine in 2022, contained an extensive criticism of the Russian leader’s 26-year rule, along with some remarks about his age.
