Ukrainian drones struck and set fire to an oil terminal in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, in an overnight attack that briefly suspended flights at the city’s airport and cut mobile internet services across the port area.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strike on social media, stating that the drones flew more than 1,000 kilometres to reach the target, as reported by NPR.
The same overnight operation also struck the Kronstadt naval base and a weapons manufacturing plant in Russia’s Tambov region, approximately 600 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian drones hit St. Petersburg ahead of Putin’s economic forum
The timing is calculated. Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday 5 June 2026, an annual event the Kremlin uses to present Russia as economically stable and internationally engaged.
Major Western investors and government officials have largely boycotted the forum since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
An oil terminal burning in the city’s port, days before Putin is due on stage, is a direct disruption of the narrative the forum is designed to project. Clouds of black smoke were visible over the port area following the strike.
Damage and disruption
St. Petersburg’s airport suspended flights overnight as a precautionary measure before operations resumed.
City authorities cut off mobile internet services in the affected areas to complicate drone navigation and communication systems.
No casualty figures had been confirmed at the time of publishing.
Ukraine’s military intelligence has not publicly detailed the specific equipment or units involved in the operation, consistent with standard Ukrainian practice for long-range strikes conducted deep inside Russian territory.
Casualty figures from the Tambov and Kronstadt strikes had also not been confirmed at the time of publishing.
Ukraine’s campaign against Russian energy infrastructure
Ukraine has mounted repeated drone attacks against oil terminals at the port of St. Petersburg and nearby facilities throughout the war.
The strategy targets Russia’s oil export revenue, a primary source of war financing, while also demonstrating that Ukrainian strike capability extends well beyond the eastern and southern front lines.
The 1,000-kilometre range confirmed by Zelenskyy makes this one of the longer Ukrainian drone operations of the conflict, demonstrating a sustained expansion in strike capability and complicating Russian civil defence planning well inside the country’s recognised borders.
Previous Ukrainian strikes on St. Petersburg port infrastructure have been reported across multiple stages of the war.
What happens next
Putin is scheduled to speak at the St. Petersburg economic forum on Friday.
The attack is expected to shape the atmosphere of the event regardless of how Russian state media presents the damage.
International responses, particularly from countries with delegations attending the forum, will be closely watched.
