Ukraine strikes St. Petersburg naval base with long-range drones as Putin rejects peace talks at economic forum

The attack

Ukraine launched a large-scale drone offensive against Russia on Saturday, with a significant portion of the barrage aimed at St. Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region. The attack, which Russian authorities described as "unprecedented," came on the final day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), an event often called the "Russian Davos." Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko of the Leningrad region reported that more than 140 drones were shot down over the area, while the Russian Defence Ministry later stated that a total of 376 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across 13 regions, plus Crimea, Abkhazia, and the Azov and Black Seas.

More than 140 drones were shot down.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) claimed responsibility for striking the Kronstadt naval base on Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland, home to Russia's Baltic Fleet, as well as the 15th Arsenal of the Russian Navy in the Leningrad region. President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the operational range of the strike.

Last night, our drones covered a distance of about 1,000 kilometres to the St. Petersburg region — to the enemy's naval arsenals and a base in Kronstadt.

Casualties and damage

A fire broke out at an unspecified military facility in the Lomonosovsky district following a drone impact, prompting the evacuation of more than 600 residents from the coastal town of Bolshaya Ishora. Governor Drozdenko later confirmed the fire had been brought under control. In St. Petersburg, Governor Alexander Beglov issued a rare shelter-in-place order, urging residents to stay indoors and warning of possible mobile internet disruptions. Three people sustained minor injuries in the St. Petersburg area, while falling drone debris in the Tver region killed one man. In the southern Krasnodar region, a drone strike ignited a fire at an oil depot in Ust-Labinsk, a facility the SBU described as a key fuel storage site for Russian forces.

In accordance with the recommendations of the emergency response team, I ask the residents of St. Petersburg to stay in their homes and not to go out onto the streets.

Air travel and civil disruption

Pulkovo Airport, the main gateway for international guests attending the economic forum, temporarily suspended takeoffs and landings due to the drone threat. Russia's civil aviation authority issued four separate flight suspension orders for Sochi airport on the Black Sea at different points during the day. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 14 drones had been downed throughout the day over the capital region.

Diplomatic context

The strike occurred just hours after President Vladimir Putin addressed the SPIEF forum, where he rejected a proposal from Zelensky for a face-to-face meeting to negotiate peace. Zelensky had released a letter to Putin earlier in the week, coinciding with the forum's opening, suggesting direct talks. Putin stated on Friday that he saw "no point" in meeting the Ukrainian leader before a peace agreement is reached. The United States sent a low-level cultural delegation to the forum, marking its first official representation at the event in years.

It is time to end this war. But Russia's ruler wants to keep fighting.

Broader air war

Russia launched its own overnight barrage of 272 drones against Ukraine, of which the Ukrainian air force said it shot down 249. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, one person was killed and three wounded by Russian strikes. The exchange marks an intensification of the long-range drone campaign by both sides, with Ukraine increasingly able to strike deep into Russian territory, including a previous attack on an oil refinery near St. Petersburg on Wednesday that sent black smoke over the city as the forum began.