In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing conflict, residents of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, were instructed to remain indoors following a significant Ukrainian drone offensive on Saturday morning. This development highlights Ukraine’s increasing capability to strike deep within Russian territory.
The city’s governor, Alexander Beglov, advised locals to avoid venturing outside and cautioned them about potential disruptions to mobile internet services. This precautionary measure underscored the severity of the situation as authorities sought to maintain public safety amidst the chaos.
The regional governor, Alexander Drozdenko, reported that 141 drones had been intercepted over the Leningrad region, while Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses successfully downed a total of 376 Ukrainian drones. Despite the scale of the attack, there were no immediate reports of casualties, delivering a further setback to President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to portray the conflict as a distant issue for the Russian populace.
This latest assault comes on the heels of a Ukrainian drone strike earlier in the week that ignited an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and targeted a nearby naval base. This incident occurred just hours before the commencement of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual event designed to showcase investment opportunities and bolster Russia’s economic image.
Addressing the forum on Thursday, President Putin vowed to enhance Russia’s air defense systems in response to the recent spate of Ukrainian drone incursions. These attacks have not only reached deep into Russian territory but have also cast a shadow over the economic forum held in St. Petersburg, his hometown.
Speaking at the forum, Putin said Thursday that Russia will strengthen its air defenses to counter recent Ukrainian drone attacks, which have reached deep inside his country and cast a cloud over the event in his hometown of St. Petersburg.
With the front line barely moving as swarms of drones hinder advances, both sides have sought an edge by launching long-range strikes.
In Ukraine, one person was killed and three wounded overnight in the Dnipropetrovsk region, as Russian forces struck three districts nearly 30 times with drones and artillery, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said Saturday.
In Zaporizhzhia, five people sought medical care after a Russian drone strike started a fire at a parking lot, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov.
Russia targeted Ukraine overnight with 272 strike drones, and air defenses shot down 249 of them, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday.
The latest attacks came a day after Putin on Friday rejected a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a face-to-face meeting on the four-year-old conflict, saying he sees “no point” in it.
Thursday’s letter, the first public message Zelenskyy has written directly to Putin since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, was a sweeping critique of the Russian leader’s 26 years in power, as well as some taunts about his age.
