Drones launch massive attack on St. Petersburg, hitting oil terminal, bridge, VK data center and Ozon hub

A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on St. Petersburg, Russia's second-biggest city, resulted in multiple reports of large fires and explosions on October 18. Monitoring channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+ confirmed the attack, which began at 2:50 a.m. local time. Eyewitness footage captured drones flying through the air and the city's air defense systems at work, with large explosions lighting up the night sky over the city's 5.6 million residents.

According to Aleksandr Drozdenko, governor of Leningrad Oblast, 57 Ukrainian drones were shot down in the region. Debris from a drone damaged four cars in a parking lot, and a fire was reported. The attack targeted the city's port infrastructure, oil tankers, and a data center, causing large fires to burn at multiple sites. The St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, one of Russia's largest fuel storage and export facilities, was struck, which receives and ships petroleum products by river, rail, and motor transit, with a reported annual throughput of 12.5 million tons. The extent of the damage remains unverified by the Kyiv Independent.