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- October 17, 202614°
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- October 17, 202614°
Smoke Rises After Drone Attack in St. Petersburg
A large-scale drone attack was carried out on the Petersburg region. Several people were injured in the attack; the number of wounded has not been disclosed.
On the morning of June 3, Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on the St. Petersburg region. Several people were injured in the attack; the number of wounded has not been disclosed. A petroleum terminal and some infrastructure facilities in Kronstadt were targeted.
Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of the Leningrad Region, stated that 59 drones were shot down over the area that day. The attack coincided with the opening day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Burning Terminal Stands Out in the City’s Summer Weather
St. Petersburg was experiencing real summer weather not seen for days. The temperature rose to 20 degrees Celsius, gray clouds dispersed, and the sun occasionally peeked through. However, the black smoke rising from the oil terminal on Kanoner Island sharply contrasted with this calm scene.
The terminal’s surroundings in the Kirovsky district are intertwined with steel factories, a tractor factory, the Severnaya Verf shipyard, and commercial port infrastructure. Soviet-era apartment blocks stretch right next to the industrial area.
Despite the thick smoke plume, people in the area continued their usual routines. Families with children spent time in parks, and no emergency teams or police were visible. Although the smoke covering half the sky was discussed alongside reports of deteriorating air quality in the city, daily life was not completely halted.
Night Attack Extended Into Morning
An elderly woman sunbathing in a small park at the intersection of Stachek and Marshal Zhukov streets sat with her back to the smoke column. An elderly man nearby, playing Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive from a portable speaker, calmly recounted the events of the night.
The man said he woke around 3:00 a.m. to a noise he initially thought was thunder. Then he realized the repeated sounds were not from clouds but from drones.
The arrival of drones in the St. Petersburg region is not new. Throughout spring, the Ust-Luga port on the Baltic coast, one of Western Russia’s key oil export centers, was targeted several times.
This time, the attack stood out not only because of the damage. While forum preparations were underway in the city that morning, state media emphasized that security measures were "comprehensive." Nevertheless, warning systems in the city did not activate during the attack; these systems had been tested citywide the day before.
Security Debate in the Shadow of the Forum
After the attack, residents were warned early in the morning via a text message from the Ministry of Emergency Situations. However, until that moment, the attack seemed largely integrated into everyday life in the city.
In the morning, state media focused on forum news, while headlines about developments in the Middle East conflict also emerged. In the same news flow, it was reported that eight civilians were killed in an attack on a passenger bus in Yenakiieve, in the occupied Donetsk region.
Independent media continued to follow the aftermath of the St. Petersburg attack. Drone footage shared on social media was also reported; however, such posts have been subject to administrative fines and, in some cases, criminal penalties in Russia since January 2025.
By midday, the fire at the oil terminal was extinguished. According to Fontanka, the fate of about 50 cats living on the terminal grounds remains unknown.
Impact Extends from Housing to the Coast
The attack’s impact was not limited to the industrial zone. Drone footage taken from high-rise buildings along the Gulf of Finland in the Krasnoselsky district, where new housing developments are rising, circulated online.
Shrapnel broke windows on the 11th floor of a building in the Pearl Cascade residential complex, located a few kilometers from the terminal. Some residents reportedly took shelter in the underground parking at the time.
However, life in the area quickly returned to normal. Most people walking on the street did not talk much about the attack. Only a girl of about 12 excitedly told her friends on her scooter what might happen if drones hit a building.
Before she could finish, noise from a nearby construction site interrupted the conversation. Workers dropped a heavy load; the children were startled and dropped the subject of the attack.
The road along the Dudergofsky Canal leads to a newly opened public recreation area in the city. There, children ran around the playground, adults sunbathed, chatted with friends, or gazed at the horizon. Kronstadt was visible on the horizon, with smoke rising from the island as the last sign left by the morning’s attack.
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