Ukrainian drones strike oil terminal, data center and bridge in St. Petersburg

Ukrainian drones carried out a coordinated overnight raid on St. Petersburg on Oct. 18, targeting the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, a VKontakte data centre and a bridge, Russian officials said. Governor Alexander Beglov reported fires at the oil terminal, the Ruchyi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpinsky District, adding that one person was killed, five were injured and damage was inflicted on 12 apartment blocks and two houses.

Leningrad Oblast Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said air defenses shot down 127 drones over the region, with debris damaging four cars in a parking lot. Monitoring channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+ noted the attack began at 2:50 a.m. local time, and eyewitness videos showed drones over the city as air-defence systems engaged.

The oil terminal, one of Russia’s largest fuel storage and export sites with an annual throughput of about 12.5 million tons, was seen engulfed in flames. Ukrainian drone maker Fire Point claimed its FP-1 attack drone was used in the strike.

A Russian independent outlet reported that a power substation was also hit, leading to blackouts and reduced water pressure in parts of the city.

The raid follows previous attacks on Russian internet infrastructure, including recent strikes on Yandex data centres, and comes after President Donald Trump's attempted energy ceasefire failed to stop attacks on energy facilities.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov downplayed the impact, saying Ukrainian strikes could not "change the course of events."