Ukrainian drones struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg’s Kirovsky district and also hit a military target on Kronstadt island, according to Russian officials and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Beglov said Russian air defenses shot down 72 drones over St. Petersburg and the surrounding region, while Zelenskyy cast the raid as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” on oil infrastructure funding Russia’s war.
The attacks extend Kyiv’s near-daily campaign against Russian energy sites, which the report says has helped trigger a fuel crisis; in Crimea, authorities have suspended gasoline sales to civilians.
Saturday’s strikes also killed one person and injured two in Russian-occupied Crimea, while Belgorod was left almost entirely without power after overnight attacks, underscoring how the war is reaching deeper into Russia.
After attacks on both Kyiv and St. Petersburg, who is winning the escalating long-range strike war?
As AI-guided drones hit St. Petersburg, has Ukraine's technology erased Russia's strategic depth advantage?
By crippling Russia's oil industry, can Ukraine's drone campaign force Putin to the negotiating table this year?
The July 4, 2026 St. Petersburg Drone Attack: Ukraine’s Long-Range Strike and Its Economic, Political, and Military Fallout
Overview
On July 4, 2026, Ukraine launched a large-scale drone attack on Russia’s Leningrad region, targeting the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and the port of Vysotsk. This strike was part of Ukraine’s intensified strategy to disrupt Russian energy supplies and create fuel shortages, focusing on St. Petersburg as a heavily defended and vital oil export hub. Russian authorities responded with a major defensive effort, claiming to intercept 67 drones, which highlights the scale and significance of the operation. The attack demonstrates Ukraine’s growing drone capabilities and its aim to weaken Russia’s war economy by hitting critical infrastructure.