The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated this Wednesday that the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out an attack in the last few hours against an oil terminal located in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg, shortly before the start of an international economic forum in the city and in the context of the war initiated in February 2022 after the invasion order signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky stressed that "important facilities in Russian territory" have been hit by Ukrainian forces and spoke of "good results". He specified that among the targets hit are the aforementioned oil terminal, "about 1,100 kilometers" from the border between Russia and Ukraine, as well as "purely military targets at the Kronstadt base".
"Another target was a company in the Tambov region dedicated to the production of Russian weaponry. The distance to the front is almost 600 kilometers," he detailed in a message disseminated on social networks. "I thank our soldiers for their precision. Ukraine's long-range sanctions plan is being implemented with the necessary precision to bring peace closer," he concluded.
The governor of Saint Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, also confirmed through social networks that "infrastructure" in Kronstadt, Kirovski, and Krasnoselski "has been attacked by Ukrainian Nazi drones." "Multiple facilities have suffered damage," he indicated, while reporting "several injured," although without fatalities.
The attack on Saint Petersburg occurred a few hours before the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) begins, which this year is held under the theme 'Pragmatic Dialogue, the Path to a Stable Future'. The attendance of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov; Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov; and Minister of Industry Anton Alikhanov, among other senior Russian officials, is expected, according to the Interfax news agency.
In parallel, the Ukrainian Air Force has reported that its air defense systems have shot down 189 out of 198 drones launched by Russian forces in the last few hours, although it has confirmed impacts in seven different locations. "The attack continues, as there are enemy drones in the airspace," it warned, asking the population to comply with safety regulations.
From Moscow, the official reaction has been brief and has been limited to promising continuity in the military response. "Our responses will be systemic, and in fact they already are," declared the Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, referring any additional comments to the Ministry of Defense.
Peskov also took the opportunity to emphasize that the so-called "special operation," launched four and a half years ago with the invasion of eastern Ukraine, was undertaken, among other reasons, "to prevent these types of attacks."