Ukraine hits major oil terminal in Russia's St Petersburg
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- Ukraine struck a major oil terminal in St Petersburg and an 'important military target' at the Kronstadt naval base, with President Zelensky saying the port infrastructure 'generates revenue for Russia's war.'
- St Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov confirmed the oil terminal was hit during a 'massive' drone attack, reported no casualties, and said 72 Ukrainian drones were shot down over St Petersburg and the wider Leningrad region.
- Ukraine's military described the terminal as 'one of the largest' in Russia, capable of producing 12.5 million tonnes of petroleum products per year, and the BBC later verified the strike hit the oil terminal.
- The targets struck in St Petersburg and the surrounding region were located approximately 850km (528 miles) from Ukraine's border, per Zelensky's Saturday morning post.
- Ukraine has intensified its long-range drone campaign against Russia's critical energy infrastructure in recent months, causing fuel shortages in multiple Russian regions.
- Russia had not publicly commented on the strike claims at the time of reporting, and Beglov urged residents to stay indoors and warned that mobile internet services may be disrupted.
Why it matters: The strike extended Ukraine's reach to roughly 850km inside Russian territory, hitting one of Russia's largest petroleum terminals at 12.5 million tonnes of annual capacity that Zelensky explicitly framed as funding the war effort. Combined with Ukraine's broader intensified drone campaign already triggering fuel shortages across Russian regions, this raises the economic cost of the war on Russian soil and demonstrates that even St Petersburg — Russia's second-largest city of more than five million — is now within striking range.
