Ukraine launches 1,000-drone assault on St. Petersburg, setting oil terminal ablaze
One person was killed and fires broke out at a major petroleum export terminal and fuel depot as Ukraine abandoned a short-lived 'energy ceasefire' and struck deep into Russia.
Ukraine launched one of its largest-ever drone barrages overnight into Sunday, sending more than 1,000 unmanned aircraft deep into Russia and setting the Petersburg Oil Terminal ablaze — a direct repudiation of a U.S.-brokered 'energy ceasefire' that lasted less than two weeks.
St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov confirmed one person was killed and five others injured. Firefighters battled simultaneous blazes at the Petersburg Oil Terminal, the Ruchi oil depot, and industrial warehouses in the city's Kolpino district. A logistics hub belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Ozon and a data centre operated by internet company VK in the surrounding Leningrad region were also struck — both companies confirmed the hits, with VK saying normal services remained available to users.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said its air defences destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones across 15 Russian regions, as well as over annexed Crimea and the Black Sea. The governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said 145 drones were shot down in his area alone and that roughly 20,000 people were left without electricity. Russia's state news agency TASS described the attack as the largest on the region in four years.
The assault disrupted flights at Pulkovo airport — one of Russia's busiest — which restricted operations 'for safety reasons,' Beglov said. Several residential buildings and two houses were also hit.
The scale of the attack reflects Ukraine's formal abandonment of the energy ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on October 11 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure, but offered no details. Ukraine initially said it would comply. By Thursday, Kyiv confirmed it had resumed attacks on Russian oil after a three-day pause, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling the Financial Times that Ukraine was 'done' with the arrangement.
Since the American President announced the energy ceasefire a week ago, Russia has deliberately attacked Ukraine’s energy and oil and gas sectors 76 times.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine
Zelenskyy said that in the night before Sunday alone, Russian forces struck electrical substations in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Odesa regions, leaving tens of thousands of families without power. He accused Russia of trying to 'cause a blackout' and said energy workers were working around the clock to restore supplies.
America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements. On the contrary, they take every signal of an opportunity to make money as proof that their bet on war is paying off and they can keep fighting.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine
Russia also struck Ukraine overnight. In Zaporizhzhia, according to the Independent, a woman was killed and at least two others wounded — including a six-year-old girl — after two Russian attacks on the southern city. Head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration Mykhailo Semikin said two apartment buildings, 18 cars, and an educational institution were damaged. Zelenskyy separately said Russian forces struck residential buildings overnight across Ukraine, killing two people and injuring 12, including two children.
Zelenskyy also reported a strike on an agricultural enterprise in the Volyn region Sunday morning, and said that over the past week Russia had attacked Ukraine with nearly 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs, and 66 missiles, most of them ballistic.
The diplomatic backdrop has grown more complicated for Kyiv. Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving sanctions and tariffs targeting Moscow's energy revenues. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday the waiver was a 60-day pause to 'analyse' the impact of those measures on the global economy. Trump said Saturday the decision would be 'good for the country, and I think good for the world.' Ukraine and European allies have criticised the move.
Ukraine has not issued an official military comment on Sunday's drone operation. With both sides escalating strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure, and Washington's ceasefire framework in effective collapse, the trajectory of the conflict's aerial dimension now hinges on whether U.S. pressure — or the absence of it — shapes either side's next move.
Why it matters — The attack marks the effective end of Trump's energy ceasefire initiative and signals an escalating cycle of infrastructure strikes that is reshaping both the war's humanitarian toll and U.S.-Ukraine relations.
⚠ Not yet confirmed
- Fire Point drones flew approximately 1,000 km to reach St. Petersburg targets
- Injury toll of up to 15 in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region
- According to Euromaidan Press, Ukrainian drone manufacturer Fire Point claimed responsibility for strikes on the oil terminal and the VK data centre, saying it used long-range FP-1 drones that flew approximately 1,000 kilometres to reach their targets.
- Fire Point, a Ukrainian drone manufacturer, claimed responsibility for hits on the oil terminal and VK data centre using FP-1 drones that flew roughly 1,000 km
Sources differ on Whether Russia agreed to an energy ceasefire: Trump said Russia and Ukraine agreed to halt energy strikes (independent.co.uk) vs Zelenskyy says Russia has attacked Ukraine's energy sector 76 times since the announcement and never honoured the deal (aljazeera.com)
Reported by reuters.com, euromaidanpress.com, aljazeera.com, independent.co.uk
