ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Ukraine unleashed more than 1,000 drones across Russia overnight into Sunday, triggering large blazes at key fuel facilities in St. Petersburg in one of Kyiv’s largest aerial barrages of the war, officials said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that its forces shot down or intercepted 1,015 Ukrainian drones across 15 regions, the annexed peninsula of Crimea, and the Black Sea. In St. Petersburg, the attack sparked fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchyi oil depot, regional Gov. Alexander Beglov said. The strikes killed at least one person, injured five others, and damaged 12 apartment buildings and two houses, while temporarily closing the city’s Pulkovo Airport.
Drones also struck an Ozon retail logistics center and a regional data facility operated by the internet firm VK, according to company statements. In the surrounding Leningrad region, Gov. Alexander Drozdenko reported that 145 drones were downed, leaving roughly 20,000 residents without electrical power.
Deadly Russian Retaliation in Ukraine
As emergency crews battled fires in St. Petersburg, Russian strikes hit several Ukrainian cities. In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, two Russian attacks killed a woman and wounded at least two other individuals, including a 6-year-old girl, local authorities reported.
In Kyiv, an overnight air raid killed a woman and wounded three others, damaging a 25-story residential building and striking a subway station, Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced Monday on Telegram. In the Volyn region, Russian bombardments on residential structures and an agricultural facility killed two people and wounded 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X.
Zelenskyy noted that Russian forces launched nearly 2,700 drones, 1,700 aerial bombs, and 66 missiles over the prior week. He accused Moscow of violating a U.S.-proposed energy truce 76 times, adding that strikes overnight on energy sites in four Ukrainian regions left tens of thousands of families without power.
Diplomatic Rift With Washington
The escalation comes amid visible strain between Kyiv and the White House. President Donald Trump, who announced an energy ceasefire on Oct. 11, has sharply criticized Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy supplies following a U.S. deal to import Russian diesel.
Trump signed an executive order Friday waiving planned sanctions on Moscow, defending the decision Sunday on Truth Social by arguing that extra economic penalties would foolishly push Russia away from peace and hostage negotiations. Trump also rebuked Zelenskyy for targeting refineries and claimed the Ukrainian president does not want the war to end.
Zelenskyy countered during an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” warning that easing sanctions would simply fuel Moscow’s military campaign. While noting that U.S.-Ukrainian intelligence sharing had restarted following a temporary freeze, Zelenskyy cautioned Washington against siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“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 on NBC.
Zelenskyy later said he spoke with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to review diplomatic progress following an Oct. 9 meeting in Miami. With freezing temperatures approaching, both combatants continue to pound each other’s energy grids as the path forward for international talks remains uncertain.
