World · 2026-10-18 · Afternoon briefing

Ukraine drones strike oil and tech targets in St. Petersburg

Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on St. Petersburg, a city of 5.6 million people located 850 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The overnight strikes on October 18th targeted critical infrastructure, including the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, a data center for Russia's largest social media platform VK, and a logistics center for the e-commerce giant Ozon.

The city's governor, Alexander Beglov, reported one person killed and five injured, with Russian state media later revising the injury count to 10. He confirmed fires at the oil terminal and other industrial sites, while an independent Russian media outlet reported a power substation was also hit, causing blackouts. Damage was reported at 12 apartment buildings and two houses, and users of the VK social network experienced service disruptions.

The governor of the surrounding Leningrad Oblast claimed that 127 Ukrainian drones were shot down. The strike on the VK data center follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's earlier promise to "respond in kind" to Russian attacks on his country's data centers. A Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters the attacks were incapable of "changing the course of events."

Summary written by Cup of News with AI from the sources below. Check the originals for the full story.

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• Ukraine targets Russia with more than 1,000 drones, striking oil terminal
• St Petersburg endures biggest Ukrainian drone attack
• Ukraine launches massive drone attack on St. Petersburg, striking oil terminal and data center
• Ukrainian drones hit VK data center and Ozon warehouse near St. Petersburg
• Ukrainian drone swarm targets St Petersburg as Russian oil terminal catches fire

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