Overview
- Ukrainian forces launched a mass drone assault that struck the outskirts of St. Petersburg and an oil depot in the Krasnodar region, early Saturday, officials said.
- Russian authorities reported that air defences intercepted about 144 drones over the Leningrad region while fires at a defence site and the Ust‑Labinsk oil depot caused at least one death and local evacuations.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv targeted the Russian navy’s arsenals and the Kronstadt naval base, and regional officials said Kronstadt traffic and St. Petersburg airport operations were briefly disrupted.
- A commander in Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces said Ukrainian drones can reach targets inside Russia with relative ease, and Moscow continued reciprocal strikes inside Ukraine that officials say killed and injured civilians.
- The attacks came hours after Vladimir Putin rejected Zelensky’s meeting request at the Saint Petersburg economic forum and underscore Kyiv’s growing long‑range drone capability, which could prompt calls for more air‑defence support and heighten escalation risks.