St Petersburg's oil terminal and Ruchyi oil depot were struck in an overnight drone attack that killed at least one person and wounded at least five, according to Governor Alexander Beglov. A logistics centre operated by Ozon, Russia's largest e-commerce company, and a data centre belonging to VKontakte, Russia's dominant social network, were also targeted. The governor said 12 apartment buildings and two homes sustained damage. Pulkovo Airport closed temporarily, and mobile internet service disruption occurred in parts of the city.
Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia had targeted Ukrainian energy facilities 76 times since Donald Trump declared an "energy ceasefire" last week. Ukraine paused strikes on Russian oil facilities for three days following Trump's announcement, accusing Russia of continuing its own attacks. Ukraine resumed strikes earlier this week, prompting Trump to call for a halt to facilitate a diesel supply deal he negotiated with Putin.
Zelensky has argued the US diesel deal amounts to supporting Russia's war effort. VKontakte confirmed its regional data centre was hit but reported services remained operational after early-morning outages. Ozon confirmed its logistics centre was targeted and caught fire, with staff evacuated and no injuries reported. The company said it was not accepting shipments at that location.
Russia's defence ministry claimed it shot down more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday. St Petersburg's oil terminal was last struck in July. Ukraine has mounted broader economic strikes beyond energy targets, including attacks on Yandex, Russia's largest search engine, which caused service disruptions earlier this month.
Relations between Washington and Kyiv have deteriorated since Trump's diesel import deal. Zelensky said on Sunday via Telegram that he had spoken with Trump's negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with both teams in constant communication to prepare diplomatic steps. Russia launched nearly 2,700 drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 66 missiles in the past week, mostly targeting energy facilities, Zelensky said. Russian strikes on energy infrastructure have left hundreds of thousands without power as the conflict enters its fifth year, with winter approaching.