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Massive Ukrainian drone attack hit oil facility, bridge, and data center in St. Petersburg
· Confirmed
In Short: Ukrainian forces launched a drone attack on St. Petersburg, targeting multiple critical infrastructure sites, according to the Kyiv Post (Ukraine) and the BBC (United Kingdom).
Ukrainian forces launched a drone attack on St. Petersburg, targeting multiple critical infrastructure sites, according to the Kyiv Post (Ukraine) and the BBC (United Kingdom). The Kyiv Post reported that a drone hit the cable-stayed bridge spanning the Korabelny fairway, located near the Petersburg Oil Terminal, while the BBC confirmed that the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal was among the targets hit.
The Kyiv Post also noted that drones damaged a VK enterprise data center and an electrical substation in Novosergievka, causing social network outages and leaving 20,000 people without power. The BBC reported that a logistics center belonging to Ozon and a data center belonging to VKontakte were also hit.
According to the Kyiv Post, the attack killed at least one person and injured five others, as reported by the city’s governor. The BBC confirmed that fires were being extinguished at the St Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchyi oil depot, and that 12 apartment buildings and two homes were damaged.
The BBC reported that Pulkovo Airport was temporarily closed for safety reasons, while the Kyiv Post stated that Russian authorities said the attack disrupted flights at the airport. Both outlets agreed that Russian air defenses neutralized a significant number of Ukrainian drones.
The Kyiv Post cited Ukrainian company Fire Point, which said that Ukrainian FP-1 drones struck the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, sparking a fire at the facility with an annual capacity of 12.5 million metric tons. The BBC reported that staff were evacuated from the affected facilities, with no injuries reported.
The Kyiv Post and the BBC agreed that the attack disrupted services and caused significant damage to infrastructure in St. Petersburg, with both outlets reporting that Russian authorities were working to restore services and address the damage.
The Kyiv Post reported that the 620-meter-long bridge connecting Bely and Vasilyevsky islands and having eight traffic lanes was damaged. The BBC confirmed that the bridge was among the targets hit, but did not provide specific details on the extent of the damage.
The Kyiv Post and the BBC both reported that the attack caused social network outages and left thousands without power, with VK confirming that a drone had targeted its regional data center.
The Kyiv Post and the BBC both reported that Russian officials said air defenses had neutralized over 1,000 Ukrainian drones, with the BBC noting that Russia had launched nearly 2,700 drones, 1,700 aerial bombs, and 66 missiles in the past week, most aimed at energy facilities.
The Kyiv Post and the BBC both reported that the attack involved multiple weapons and caused significant damage to infrastructure in St. Petersburg, with both outlets noting that Russian authorities were working to restore services and address the damage.
Background
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What's confirmed
- The region's Governor Alexander Beglov said fires were being extinguished at the St Petersburg Oil Terminal and the Ruchyi oil depot following the attack, which also injured at least five.
What's still developing
- Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin described Zelenskyy’s open letter proposing the meeting as “boorish,” particularly after a May 22 drone attack on a college dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region that Moscow said killed 21 and wounded scores of others.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine's recent attacks on data centers of Russian tech giant Yandex have lowered the number of Internet bots promoting pro-Kremlin hate, a claim that has been disputed by many technology researchers.
- The Ukrainian strikes on the data centers appear to have coincided with a collapse in automated traffic from Yandex’s network to roughly 0.4 percent of its recent peak, according to data from Cloudflare Radar, a public tool that tracks global Internet activity.
- While Ukrainian officials say they have so far respected Trump's call for an energy ceasefire, they did strike large data centers inside Russia operated by Yandex, a company often described as Russia's version of Google.
- Ukraine's drones struck the Samara hub, the largest oil storage facility in Europe, according to the Unmanned Systems Forces' (SBS) Telegram channel.
- The Defense Forces also targeted airfields, industrial enterprises, oil refineries, a rocket and space center, and an ammunition depot in several Russian regions and in the Black Sea.
- Russia attacked a production facility of the Textile-Kontakt group of companies. (Photo: Facebook Oleksandr Sokolovskyi) A Russian ballistic missile struck the main production facility and logistics warehouse of Ukrainian textile manufacturer TK-Domashniy Tekstyl in Kyiv overnight on Sept. 24, causing extensive damage, Textile-Kontakt Group founder Oleksandr Sokolovskyi said.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday morning that Russia had targeted his country's energy sector 76 times since Donald Trump declared an "energy ceasefire" last week.
- It said staff were evacuated and no one was injured, and that it was not accepting shipments from sellers at the location "as it is currently serving other operational purposes".
- Ukraine has struck St Petersburg before, though regions closer to Ukraine are threatened more often.
- Russia's defence ministry said it had shot down more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight into Sunday.
- Published 18 Oct 2026, 11:20 UTC Updated 18 Oct 2026, 17:20 UTC Ukraine War 18 October, 2026 2 min read This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets.