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Ukrainian drones strike St. Petersburg as Putin's major economic forum opens

2026-06-03 13:26:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukrainian drones strike St. Petersburg as Putin's major economic forum

Ukraine has carried out a wave of attacks on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, hours before the opening of a major economic forum designed to attract foreign investment to the country.

As dawn broke, black clouds of smoke rose over Russia's second-largest city, where Vladimir Putin is expected to deliver a speech at the financial event on Friday. Thousands of guests from 130 countries will attend, including a modest American delegation.

Local authorities said air defenses shot down 59 drones overnight and that three different neighborhoods of St. Petersburg had been hit, although no one was killed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would respond to the attacks. "Our responses will be systemic in nature," he said on Wednesday.

Mobile internet was disrupted and St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport was temporarily closed, while some regions of neighboring Latvia and Estonia also issued air raid alerts.

Hours later, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian drones had struck several sites in Russia, including an oil terminal and a naval base in the nearby city of Kronstadt.

"The Ukrainian long-term sanctions plan is being implemented precisely when it is needed to bring peace closer," Zelensky wrote on social media, using a euphemism for long-range attacks on Russia.

Kronstadt is the main base of the Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet. Unverified videos posted on social media by Ukrainian military figures showed drones heading towards anchored military ships, with the video cutting off before the collision.

Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine's unmanned systems, said on Telegram that the Boikiy corvette was hit.

The St. Petersburg Economic Forum - once called the "Russian Davos" - is a major event on the Russian political agenda.

By the time Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it was attended by high-profile Western delegations, including company executives and heads of state.

This year, for the first time in nearly a decade, a low-profile American delegation is expected to attend the forum. It is led by the head of the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the official who oversaw the design of President Donald Trump's White House ballroom.

Right-wing American commentator Candace Owens and American actor Steven Seagal, who supports Putin, will also attend.

In an ironic post on X, Denys Shrilierman of Ukrainian defense company Fire Point said: "Due to such distinguished guests and the importance of the event itself, we could not ignore it - and urgently flew to [St. Petersburg]."

The post was accompanied by videos of drones circling the sky and thick black smoke rising from undisclosed locations on the coast.

In the four years since the Russian invasion began, Ukraine has developed a thriving defense sector. Kiev is now able to regularly strike targets inside Russia, focusing its efforts on energy infrastructure and oil facilities, which it sees as fuel for the Russian war machine./CNA, translated by BBC