Overview
- Ukraine carried out coordinated drone strikes on June 3–4 that hit the Peterburg oil terminal near St. Petersburg and multiple Russian vessels and military sites in and around Kronstadt and Crimea.
- Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed the June 3 oil-terminal strike destroyed one fuel storage tank and damaged six others plus two loading racks, producing large fires visible from the city.
- Footage released by Ukrainian forces shows hits to the Steregushchy-class corvette RFS Boiky at Kronstadt on June 3 and the Unmanned Systems Forces published video of a strike on a Project 10410 Svetlyak-class patrol ship near Kerch overnight into June 4 with crew abandoning ship in the footage; Russian authorities had not confirmed casualty totals.
- Multiple reports and imagery indicate local air defenses and shipboard protections at Kronstadt and in the Sea of Azov failed to stop the attacks, with at least one corvette lacking protective netting while in drydock.
- The strikes reflect a maturing Ukrainian doctrine and domestic drone industry that favors medium-range, 'soft-kill' attacks on ship sensors and oil export infrastructure to raise repair costs, limit Russia’s maritime reach, and strain civilian fuel supplies and public confidence in Russian cities.