Drone strikes set St. Petersburg oil sites ablaze

On 18 October 2026, Ukrainian drone strikes hit St. Petersburg in one of the largest reported aerial attacks of the conflict, igniting fires at multiple sites. Regional officials said the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, the Ruchyi oil depot and nearby industrial warehouses were set ablaze. Images and videos from the city showed large fires at oil facilities during the night. Emergency services were deployed to contain and extinguish the blazes.

Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that air defence units destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea during the overnight raid. The number underscored the scale of the drone operation across a wide geographic area. The St. Petersburg strikes formed part of this broader wave of attacks.

St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov reported that one person was killed and five were injured in the city as a result of the strikes. He confirmed that the casualties were linked to fires at the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, the Ruchyi depot and industrial warehouses. Firefighting and rescue operations continued into the day as crews worked across the affected locations.

Authorities also reported damage beyond the oil infrastructure. A VK data centre in the city was reported hit, and Ozon said one of its logistics centres had been targeted. These incidents indicated that commercial and digital infrastructure in St. Petersburg was affected alongside fuel facilities.

The St. Petersburg Oil Terminal temporarily halted operations after the attack, with staff evacuated and the facility not accepting shipments. Fires and emergency activity at the site added to uncertainty over the extent of operational disruption. The Ruchyi oil depot also experienced significant fires following the strikes.

Officials in the wider Leningrad region reported that power outages left roughly 20,000 residents without electricity after the overnight attacks. Local reports also noted that operations at Pulkovo airport, St. Petersburg’s main air hub, were temporarily restricted. There were indications of possible mobile internet disruption in the city as authorities and companies responded to the incident.

The combined impact on oil infrastructure, logistics facilities, data services and power supply highlighted the breadth of disruption from the drone raid. While emergency and repair efforts were under way, the full duration and scale of the interruptions to normal operations were not yet clear in the immediate aftermath.