Ukrainian drones strike St. Petersburg oil terminal and a bus in occupied Donetsk as Russia's economic forum opens

Strikes on St. Petersburg

Ukrainian drones hit energy and military infrastructure in St. Petersburg on Wednesday morning, the opening day of the city's International Economic Forum. The city's governor, Alexander Beglov, said "several" facilities were damaged on the outskirts of Russia's second-largest city but that no one was killed. Reuters reporters described thick grey smoke rising over the edge of the city, and videos shared on social media showed a large column of fire at an oil terminal on the Gulf of Finland.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the attack on the oil terminal, one of Russia's largest fuel storage and export facilities. He also said a munitions factory in the Tambov region, south of Moscow, had been shelled. Ukrainian officials stated the strikes were intended to disrupt the three-day forum, which President Vladimir Putin is expected to attend and which draws German companies and politicians.

Air defences and flight restrictions

Russian authorities reported intercepting multiple drones overnight. Governor Alexander Drosdenko of the Leningrad region said three drones were shot down in the northwest of the country, while Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defences intercepted another 13 drones approaching the capital. The federal aviation agency Rosaviatsiya temporarily restricted flights at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport.

Bus attack in occupied Donetsk

In the Russian-annexed Donetsk region, occupation head Denis Pushilin said a combat drone struck a scheduled bus travelling the Moscow–Simferopol route near Yenakiieve. At least seven people were killed and eleven others wounded, according to occupation authorities. Pushilin called the attack an "act of unprecedented, inhuman aggression," and Russia's Investigative Committee opened a terrorism case. The claims could not be independently verified.

Civilian toll and stalled talks

Ukraine maintains that it targets only military assets in its defensive war, but the bus strike adds to a recent rise in civilian casualties. On Tuesday, massive Russian drone and missile barrages killed more than 20 people and wounded over 100 in Kyiv and Dnipro, according to Ukrainian authorities. Negotiations to end the fighting remain frozen.

A scheduled bus on the Moscow–Simferopol route was attacked by a combat drone in Yenakiieve.

Several infrastructure facilities were damaged, but no one was killed.