Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at Russian targets early Wednesday, sending black smoke rising above the historic heart of St. Petersburg just as the event dubbed “Putin’s Davos” was due to get underway in the city.
The attack on President Vladimir Putin’s hometown, which hosts the flagship annual economic forum, was the latest signal from Kyiv that it can strike deep inside enemy territory and seek to embarrass the Kremlin.
With peace talks deadlocked and battlefield progress stalled, the two sides have been exchanging intensifying aerial attacks.
In St. Petersburg, where the International Economic Forum was set to begin later Wednesday, local authorities reported several people were injured as Ukraine said it had struck an oil export terminal.
“Important facilities on Russian territory were hit last night,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X early Wednesday, with the St. Petersburg oil terminal among the targets. The drones flew more than 600 miles to hit the terminal, he said.
“Ukraine’s plan for long-range sanctions is being implemented exactly as needed to bring peace closer,” Zelenskyy added.
Emergency crews were responding to the attacks and assessing damage, St. Petersburg Mayor Alexander Beglov said on Telegram.
The broader Leningrad region, which includes St. Petersburg, also came under attack, with Russian air defenses intercepting 50 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to the regional governor, Alexander Drozdenko.
Moscow was also targeted, with air defenses downing 13 drones approaching the capital, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
Overall, 754 Ukrainian drones were shot down in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to the news agency Interfax.
Russian authorities have imposed restrictions on the publication of photos and videos showing the aftermath of attacks.
Separately, seven people were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on a passenger bus in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, said Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-installed leader of the area.
The Ukrainian attacks came a day after Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine in months, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than a hundred across several major cities.
Russia had vowed more intense attacks and warned foreign diplomats to abandon Kyiv. In recent months, Ukrainian attacks have been largely focused on Russia’s oil and energy infrastructure in a bid to pressure Putin’s wartime economy.
Ukraine has targeted the oil industry because “it is very important for Russia economically,” said Nick Reynolds, research fellow for land warfare at Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security think tank.
“Ukraine is trying to reduce Russian oil revenue and therefore write down its capacity to continue the war, and make life more difficult economically for the Russian state and the Russian people,” Reynolds said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Kyiv appeared to be sending its own message Wednesday, targeting the city hosting one of the Kremlin’s most important international events.
The economic forum in St. Petersburg brings together senior Russian officials, business leaders and foreign delegates each year and serves as a showcase for Putin’s efforts to project economic resilience despite the war and Western sanctions.
The Kremlin said Tuesday that a U.S. delegation would attend the event this week for the first time in many years. It will be led by Rodney Cook, chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts and the man who oversees President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom extension, the Kremlin said.
Right-wing influencer Candace Owens is also set to appear at the event.
This year’s special guest country is Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf power and U.S. ally sending a high-level business delegation, while other prominent guests include senior officials from countries such as Iran and China.
Ukrainian attacks coinciding with the International Economic Forum will “not just be sending a message to Russia — they will also send a message to Russia’s partners or potential partners,” Reynolds said.
“Russia is once again demonstrating its unwillingness to engage in any pragmatic dialogue on ending the war against Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Security Service said in a statement Wednesday, taking aim at the economic forum’s slogan, “Pragmatic Dialogue — the Path to a Stable Future.”
“The longer Russia chooses war over peace, the more frequently the facilities sustaining that war will burn,” it said.
