A plume of black smoke is seen over the port of St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, after a Ukrainian drone attack.
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Ukrainian long-range drones have struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg, setting it ablaze, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The attack comes as the Russian city hosts a major event for attracting foreign capital. The drones flew over 1,000 kilometers to hit the terminal, a day after Moscow launched a major attack on Kyiv. Russian authorities confirmed the strike but provided few details. The city's airport briefly suspended flights, and mobile internet services were cut off. Both sides have been launching long-range strikes as the war continues with no end in sight.
A massive black cloud rising above the St. Petersburg skyline from a Ukrainian drone strike set a gloomy tone for the opening of President Vladimir Putin’s annual showcase of Russia’s economic achievements. With Putin set to arrive Thursday in his hometown hosting the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Ukrainian attack a day earlier that set an oil terminal ablaze was another blow to his efforts to minimize the impact of the 4-year-old conflict and cast it as a distant event with no effect on Russian daily life. The attack, which also targeted a nearby naval base, underlined Ukraine’s growing capability to hit deep inside its neighbor and demonstrated that even the country's heavily protected second-largest city is increasingly vulnerable.
