On the night of October 17 to 18, Ukrainian forces executed a significant drone attack on St. Petersburg, hitting an oil terminal, a data center, and a bridge. According to Russian state media, Ukrainian drones struck the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and a data center belonging to VKontakte, a popular social media network in Russia.
Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of the Leningrad region, reported that 127 Ukrainian drones were intercepted in the area. Debris from one drone damaged four cars in a parking lot, and fires were reported nearby, as noted by Kyiv Independent.
The publication also mentioned that it could not independently verify the specific targets of the attack or the extent of the damages at the time of reporting.
Ukrainian monitoring channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+ reported that the massive drone attack commenced at local time 2:50 AM.
Witnesses in St. Petersburg captured images showing Ukrainian drones flying over the city and Russian air defense systems in action.
St. Petersburg is located 856 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border and is the hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Additional videos from the scene appear to show a Ukrainian drone striking a highway bridge with eight lanes.
Numerous recordings indicate the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal engulfed in flames.
Situated in the city’s port, the facility is one of Russia’s largest fuel storage and export units, handling an annual transit volume of 12.5 million tons through river, rail, and road transport.
VK Data Center Targeted Amid Ongoing Strikes on Russian Digital Infrastructure
The strike on VKontakte’s data center, also known as VK, represents the latest in a series of assaults on Russia’s internet infrastructure. Ukrainian forces have targeted multiple data centers belonging to Yandex in recent weeks, fulfilling President Volodymyr Zelensky’s promise to respond similarly to Russian attacks on data centers in Ukraine.
Throughout the war, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. On July 4, Ukraine also hit the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal in an overnight attack.
As Moscow intensifies its assaults on civilian and energy infrastructure in Ukraine, Kyiv continues to strike deep into Russian territory. Through swarms of drones, Ukraine has disrupted air traffic in the Moscow area and damaged data centers in recent days in the Russian capital region.
