Drones strike major St. Petersburg oil terminal ahead of Putin's scheduled speech

Putin is expected to visit St. Petersburg on June 4–5, with his address at the forum scheduled for June 5.

By 8:47 a.m., Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) announced that flight arrivals and departures at Pulkovo Airport had resumed. The airport began preparing to service scheduled flights after a temporary lockdown delayed nearly 30 flights and forced nine others to divert to alternative airfields.

St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov acknowledged the raid, stating that drone strikes had targeted "infrastructure facilities" in the Kronstadt, Kirovsky, and Krasnoselskyi districts. He confirmed that "several facilities" were damaged without naming them, adding that efforts to eliminate the aftermath were underway.

The independent Telegram channel Astra clarified that the drones successfully struck the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal — the largest oil product transshipment complex in northwestern Russia — where a massive fire later erupted. Eyewitness footage of the morning strike and the resulting blaze at the facility circulated widely on social media.

The terminal serves as a critical asset in the Baltic region, spanning 37 hectares and housing 21 storage tanks for light and dark petroleum products. With an annual throughput capacity of 12.5 million tons, the enterprise is legally designated as having strategic importance for Russian security and has been registered as a natural monopoly since 2000.

In 2024, the terminal reported a revenue of 8.6 billion rubles and a net profit of 5.8 billion rubles.

Leningrad Oblast Governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed the UAV raid, claiming that local air defenses had shot down 30 drones over the region. However, Drozdenko declined to comment on the active fire at the oil terminal.

Andrii Kovalenko, Head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, pointed out the timing of the strike relative to the international economic forum, noting cuttingly that Russia's "economy is burning before our eyes."

Earlier, a separate drone attack targeted the Progress plant in Michurinsk, Tambov Oblast — a military facility manufacturing control systems for aviation and missile technology. A fire broke out on the factory grounds following that strike.