Ukraine hit Saint Petersburg with a large-scale drone attack, causing fires at an oil refinery and depot, Moscow said Sunday, as Kyiv accused Russia of violating US President Donald Trump's "energyceasefire" dozens of times and leaving tens of thousands without power. Trump last week announced an "energy ceasefire"– which neither side said they agreed to beforehand– that quickly collapsed, with Moscow continuing strikes on Ukraine's power grid and Kyiv eventually resuming hits on Russian oil refineries. Trump has been angered by Kyiv's strikes on Russian refineries– which he says are contributing to a surge in global fuel prices.
On Sunday, Ukraine hit Russia's second city as its ties with Washington strained in recent days. Kyiv says its retaliatory strikes are fair retribution for years of Russia's offensive and destruction of its energy infrastructure. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia Sunday of hitting Kyiv's energy, oil and gas facilities 76 times since Trump announced his ceasefire.
Saint Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov said one person was killed and five hospitalised in the city– President Vladimir Putin's hometown– in the night-time strikes. Authorities were fighting fires at the Saint Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchyi oil depot and industrial warehouses, he said. Flights were restricted at the city's Pulkovo airport, Beglov said, adding that 12 housing blocks were also damaged.
Russia's VKontakte social network said its data centre was hit in the city and Ozon– Russia's second largest retailer– also reported a hit on its logistics centre. The head of the wider Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said air defence shot down 144 Ukrainian drones, with state media saying this was the largest attack on the city since the start of the 2022 war. Ukraine has attacked Moscow and Saint Petersburg throughout the Kremlin's dragging offensive but large-scale hits on Russia's main cities are rare.
US-led peace talks have not led to a breakthrough. In a fifth year of war, few see a way out. "There's a general feeling: they're attacking, we're attacking– it's become the dreadful routine of war," 58-year-old Galina told in Saint Petersburg.
Sergei, another resident of the city who is also 58, said he felt his apartment block shake and quickly realised it was a drone attack. "I don't know if I was scared; what must be will be," he told AFP. "My main thought was that petrol would run out at the petrol stations and I'd better fill up." Ukrainian strikes caused nationwide fuel shortages in Russia earlier this year.
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