Ukrainian drones attacked energy and military sites in St. Petersburg ahead of a major economic forum in the city and a day after Moscow killed 23 people across Ukraine in devastating air attacks.
"Important facilities on Russian territory were hit last night," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on June 3, adding that what he called Ukraine's "long-range sanctions" against Russia reached an area about 1,100 kilometers from the state border.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv's latest attack targeted an oil depot in St. Petersburg, a "facility of Russia's oil industry that serves the war effort," the Kronstadt naval base, and a military site in Russia's Tambov region.
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Drone Strikes, Deep Strikes: How Ukraine's Long-Range Air Attacks Are Hurting RussiaThe commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, said drone strikes damaged a Russian missile corvette in Kronstadt, which had been stationed at the base for planned repairs a couple of months earlier. RFE/RL cannot independently verify the claim.
A Planet Labs satellite image captured on June 3 at 12:46 p.m. local time shows smoke billowing from an oil terminal near St. Petersburg after it was hit by Ukrainian drones.
The attack comes as Ukraine has stepped up strikes on energy and military targets deep inside Russia, hampering the country's ability to profit from sharp increases in oil prices resulting from the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Local Russian authorities confirmed that Ukrainian drones targeted the country, reporting damage to civilian infrastructure, although they avoided mentioning strikes on energy and military sites. Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces downed more than 700 Ukrainian drones overall overnight.
Asked about the attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "responses" to such actions are already part of the Russian military's systematic work.
Zelenskyy posted videos showing drones targeting the facilities, with fires burning and pillars of smoke rising into the sky above the Leningrad region, a key distant area that has unexpectedly become a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks in 2026.
Similar footage was widely shared across Ukrainian and Russian Telegram channels.
St. Petersburg's Economic Forum Set To Kick Off
The latest Ukrainian attack on St. Petersburg coincided with the start of Russia's main economic event of the year intended to attract foreign investment into the country, the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Waking up to drone strikes, Russia's second-largest city and the hometown of President Vladimir Putin, is now set to host its fifth such forum during the country's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Ukrainian Drones Hit St. Petersburg Oil Terminal Ahead Of Putin's Economic Forum
The forum is annually attended by Putin and has long served as one of his most prominent platforms, with leaders from post-Soviet countries making up much of the guest list.
On June 3, Peskov confirmed that Putin is set to deliver a speech at this year's event as well, adding that the Russian president will address both economic and political issues.
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Vladimir Putin And Victory Day: A Downsized Parade, A Diminished President?However, while the 29th forum will also include a US official and international media personalities, it may be overshadowed by the threat of attacks from Kyiv.
Accelerated Ukrainian attacks have led Russian authorities to scale down plans for the May 9 events in Moscow, stripping the country's military parade of heavy weapons for the first time in almost 20 years.
Now, according to Astra, Ukrainian forces hit the oil depot in St. Petersburg, just 17 kilometers from the venue of this year's economic forum.
Another sour note is added to this year's event by overall economic trends inside Russia, which show little sign of growth as the country continues its efforts to capture more Ukrainian territory.
Over the past several years, the Kremlin has retooled the country into a war economy, spending record amounts on recruiting and paying soldiers, as well as building factories and transport networks to manufacture guns, tanks, planes, and drones, and ship them to the fight.
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Entangled In Russia's Faltering Economy: The Fate Of Its Respected Central Banker'Terrifying' Attacks On Ukraine's Kyiv And Dnipro
The attack on St. Petersburg follows Russia's major drone-and-missile assault that pummeled Ukrainian cities on June 2, killing and injuring dozens of people.
Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and the southeastern city of Dnipro were among the hardest hit. Local officials reported damage to residential buildings, a clinic, a gas station, vehicles, and other infrastructure, along with numerous fires, building collapses, and power outages.
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Death Toll Mounts From Russia's Massive Air Offensive On UkraineRussia's Defense Ministry confirmed its forces carried out the large-scale strikes using "long-range precision weapons" in response to what it called "terrorist acts" against targets inside Russia.
"It was just terrible," Yevhen Dniprovskiy, a victim of Russian strikes told Current Time in Kyiv. "I'm still shaking, my whole body is shaking. I don't know how to explain it."
A Dnipro resident also described the attack as "absolutely terrifying," telling RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that his building "was shaking so violently that I thought it was going to collapse."
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Massive Russian Strike On Ukraine Kills Civilians, Injures Dozens
Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, condemned the attacks, saying that "Russia continues its terror against Ukraine’s civilians" and that "the world must act" to stop such deaths.
On June 3, Ukraine's state railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, announced NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte arrived to Kyiv for an unannounced trip.
"This visit is extremely important, just like all the previous ones, because it is a gesture of solidarity and support from the Alliance for our country," Ukrzaliznytsia wrote on social media.