Ukraine Drones overshadow start of St. Petersburg Economic Forum
Right before the start of an important international economic forum in St. Petersburg, Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on the city on the Baltic Sea.
03.06.2026, 12:35
SDA
After the attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that they had hit the oil terminal in the port of St Petersburg. "Purely military targets in the Kronstadt base were also hit".
Kronstadt, an island off the coast of St. Petersburg, is an important military location and serves as a base for the Russian Baltic Fleet. Selensky described the strikes as a "good result" of the joint work of drone units from various branches of the armed forces and intelligence services.
The targets were almost 1,100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, he emphasized. According to the head of the Ukrainian drone forces, Robert Browdi, the drones also set fire to the corvette "Boyki" of the Russian navy.
Important forum for Putin
The SPIEF International Economic Forum starts today in St. Petersburg. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is hosting the glamorous forum for guests from all over the world. The Russian leadership is also expecting entrepreneurs and business representatives from Western countries.
In large parts of the metropolis on the Neva, residents could see clouds of smoke after the Ukrainian attack. Pictures and videos of drones flying in, impacts in the oil cisterns at the port and huge columns of smoke rising into the sky are circulating on the internet.
Russian authorities give few details about the consequences
The Russian authorities issued an air alert during the night. The governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, later confirmed the attack on infrastructure facilities on Telegram. "Some objects have been damaged. The damage is currently being repaired."
He did not provide specific details of the damage. According to him, all emergency services are on increased standby.
Beglow also wrote that several people had suffered injuries. However, he emphasized that there were no fatalities. According to the authorities, drone debris also caused minor damage to four single-family homes in the area surrounding the metropolis.
Air alert in the neighboring countries
Due to the attack on St. Petersburg, there was also an air alert in the neighboring Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, as well as in Finland.
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen told the newspaper "Iltalehti" that his country had sent Hornet aircraft to monitor Finnish airspace on Wednesday night.
Häkkänen spoke of a "normal maintenance of readiness". No Ukrainian drones had penetrated Finnish airspace. "We are continuing to monitor the situation," Häkkänen told the newspaper.
Hits in other regions
Ukraine also attacked other Russian regions during the night. According to the Russian military, 354 drones were intercepted. However, there were still hits.
In the western Russian region of Smolensk, the governor reported the death of two civil protection workers.
Two others suffered injuries. In the Donetsk region annexed by Russia, at least seven people died when a drone hit a bus and eleven others were injured.
Selensky himself confirmed the attack on an arms company in the large city of Mitschurinsk: "Another target was a company in the Tambov region that is involved in the production of Russian armaments," he wrote.
According to media reports, this is a factory that also produces missile technology.
