Ukrainian drones strike oil terminal, VK data centre and power infrastructure near St Petersburg, causing fires and electricity outages

Ukrainian drones launched a large-scale overnight attack on Russia’s St Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region on Sunday, October 18, targeting an oil terminal, a data centre operated by Russian technology company VK and energy infrastructure, according to Russian officials and reports from local sources.

The strikes sparked fires at several facilities, disrupted electricity supplies in parts of the region and prompted temporary restrictions at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport.

St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov confirmed that a fire had broken out at the St Petersburg Oil Terminal following the drone attack.

According to Beglov, fires were also reported at infrastructure facilities in the city’s Nevsky, Krasnoselsky, Krasnogvardeysky and Moskovsky districts.

Emergency services were deployed to contain the fires, while operations at Pulkovo Airport were temporarily restricted because of the threat of further drone strikes.

One of the main reported targets was the St Petersburg Oil Terminal, a major Russian facility used for storing and exporting petroleum products through the Baltic Sea.

The terminal has an annual handling capacity of approximately 12.5 million tonnes of petroleum products, making it an important component of Russia’s energy export infrastructure.

Videos circulating on social media appeared to show large columns of thick black smoke rising above an industrial area following the attack. The footage has not been independently verified.

The overnight strikes also targeted a data centre operated by VK, the Russian technology company that owns VKontakte, the country’s largest social networking platform.

VK confirmed that drones had attacked one of its data centres in the Leningrad region but said its services continued to operate normally.

However, social media users reported difficulties accessing VKontakte and disruptions affecting some digital services. The extent of the reported outages could not be independently established.

Open-source intelligence analysts also reported that the attack had targeted the Vostochnaya 330-kilovolt electrical substation, which forms part of the region’s electricity distribution network.

Residents in parts of St Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region reported power outages following the strikes. Reports also indicated damage to electricity transmission infrastructure, although the full extent of the disruption remained unclear.

There were additional reports of possible strikes on the Ruchyi oil depot, a logistics facility operated by Russian e-commerce company Ozon and infrastructure associated with St Petersburg’s Western High-Speed Diameter motorway.

The extent of any damage to those facilities has not been independently confirmed.

Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said Russian air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed 126 drones overnight. The figure could not be independently verified.

Russian officials initially reported no casualties in parts of the affected area. However, subsequent reports, including from the Associated Press, indicated that one person had been killed and five others injured in the attacks on oil-related facilities in St Petersburg.

St Petersburg is one of Russia’s largest industrial, logistical and technological centres, hosting major energy infrastructure, commercial ports, industrial enterprises and data processing facilities.

The latest attack comes amid Ukraine’s continuing campaign of long-range strikes against infrastructure inside Russia, particularly oil refineries, fuel storage facilities and other sites considered important to Moscow’s war effort and economy.

Kyiv has repeatedly said that strikes against Russian energy infrastructure are intended to weaken Moscow’s ability to finance and sustain its military operations in Ukraine.

The full scale of the damage and the economic consequences of Sunday’s attack remain unclear.

Ukraine’s military command had not issued a detailed official assessment of the operation at the time of publication.