Ukraine launches over 1,000 drones against Russia, sparking fires in St. Petersburg oil facilities
Ukraine deployed more than a thousand drones in a large-scale attack on Russian targets, causing a fatal blaze at an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, while Russia reported shooting down the drones and both sides reported casualties.
Ukraine launched an aerial assault involving more than 1,000 drones that struck several sites in Russia, including the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchi oil depot in St. Petersburg. The attacks ignited fires at the oil terminal and a nearby depot, killing at least one person and wounding five others, according to local governor Alexander Beglov. Russian retailer Ozon and tech firm VK also reported damage to a logistics center and a data center, respectively.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces downed 1,015 Ukrainian drones across 15 regions, the Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told state news agency Tass that Kyiv was "resisting" Moscow's invasion but could not "change the current course of events."
In Ukraine, a separate Russian strike on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed a woman and injured a six-year-old girl among other casualties.
The drone attacks occurred amid heightened tensions between Ukraine and the United States. President Trump has recently criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyiv's strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, while the prospect of additional U.S. sanctions on Moscow remains uncertain.
"Waiving sanctions against Russia would strengthen Putin's war effort," Zelenskyy said on NBC's "Meet the Press," adding that intelligence sharing between the United States and Ukraine had resumed after a period of interruption.
"We can't compare me and Putin. He's aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He's a terrorist," Zelenskyy told reporters, urging President Trump to take a clear stance.
Zelenskyy later posted on social media that he had spoken with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about diplomatic steps following a recent meeting in Miami, and accused Moscow of violating an "energy ceasefire" dozens of times. He warned that Russia was attempting to cut off heat and electricity to Ukrainian civilians before winter.
Energy facilities in four Ukrainian regions were also hit overnight, leaving tens of thousands without power, according to Ukrainian officials.