Ukraine Launches More Than 1,000 Drones at Russia, Setting St. Petersburg Oil Terminals Ablaze
Ukraine fired more than 1,000 drones at Russia on Sunday, one of its largest aerial attacks of the war, setting an oil export terminal and a depot ablaze in St. Petersburg and killing one person. The strikes came as tensions between Kyiv and Washington deepened over President Donald Trump's decision to waive new sanctions on Moscow.
Ukrainian strikes set an oil export terminal and an oil depot on fire in St. Petersburg on Sunday as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia, one of the largest aerial attacks of the war, according to the Associated Press. One person was killed and five others were wounded, St. Petersburg Gov. Alexander Beglov said.
The fires burned at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot. A logistics center belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon and a data center operated by Russian tech company VK were also targeted, the companies confirmed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones across 15 Russian regions, the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state news agency Tass that Ukraine was “resisting” the invasion but could not “change the current course of events.”
Sanctions decision strains Kyiv-Washington ties
The attack came as tensions between Ukraine and Washington grew. On Friday night, President Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving planned sanctions against Russia, saying the move served U.S. national interests. On Sunday, Trump said he did not want to take steps that would drive Moscow “away from the bargaining table.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that waiving sanctions would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort. He said U.S.-Ukraine intelligence sharing had resumed after being “blocked for some period of time,” and called it a “historic mistake” for Washington to side with Moscow. “We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He’s a terrorist,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump announced an “energy ceasefire” on Oct. 11, though he gave no details. Zelenskyy wrote on X on Sunday that Russia had attacked Ukraine’s energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week since the announcement. Kyiv said it initially observed the truce and resumed strikes on Russian oil facilities Thursday after a three-day pause.
Stray drone prompts apology to Lithuania
Separately, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry apologized on Sunday after a drone crossed into Lithuanian airspace, setting off an air raid warning. Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said Russian electronic warfare may have diverted the drone during a Ukrainian operation against targets in Russia. Lithuanian broadcaster LRT reported the drone damaged a moving car in the northern Pasvalys region. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile in Ukraine, a woman was killed and a 6-year-old girl was among at least two other people wounded in Russian attacks on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, local officials said.
Reporting based on coverage by the Associated Press.
