ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, 18 Oct. - (ANA) - Russian air defences were overwhelmed as drones carried out a strike on the oil terminal, which has a capacity of 12.5 million tons, in Vladimir Putin’s home city St Petersburg

Vladimir Putin's home city of St Petersburg has been hit by a massive Ukrainian blitz which left an oil depot burning in a move likely to further enrage Donald Trump.

 

Flames exploded into the city's sky as Ukraine also hit a key data centre, a key 2,035-ft bridge, and a heating and power plant.

 

The attack on the data centre linked to VK - Russia's Facebook - reportedly led to massive and critical disruption to services, including cloud platforms.

 

The attack on St Petersburg Oil Terminal, which caused huge explosions, comes after Trump claimed last weekend that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire".

 

Multiple attacks on energy facilities have followed, with Ukraine launching a major attack on a Russian refinery in Ryazan, south east of Moscow, on Thursday, and Russia attacking Ukrainian power plants from Friday evening into Saturday morning.

 

Trump has demanded that Zelensky stop attacking Russian oil refineries, claiming it is the cause of a global rise in the price of diesel fuel and calling the strikes on oil refineries a "disgrace".

 

Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky are also at odds over the US President's controversial decision to waive sanctions and import millions of tonnes of Russian diesel to the US in a £3.3billion deal.

 

The overnight attack on St Petersburg appeared to be the biggest attack yet on Russia's second city, with air defences shooting down some of the drones and causing debris to ignite fires in high-rise apartment buildings.

 

The Dvortsovy Fasad residential complex was among those hit by downed drones during the onslaught and there was, again, massive flight disruption in European Russia as Zelensky's forces seek to substantially close Putin's airspace.

 

A total of 327 flights were delayed or cancelled at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, where staff and employees were ordered to take cover in shelters.

 

One St Petersburg resident said: "There are such loud bangs in the Nevsky district. Should I go to a shelter? I don’t understand. It’s just very frightening."

 

Another said: "I can see flashes of light. I’m very frightened, there are loud explosions. I’m worried."

 

A woman pleaded: "Why does Putin persist with this pointless war. We’re under siege. It’s like in the history books from the Great Patriot War [WW2]."

 

Zelensky previously warned: "Russia is trying to create a blackout in Ukraine just before winter. Russia is trying to leave millions of our people without electricity and heating. Pressure is needed to stop this. American sanctions, a weakening of pressure on the aggressor, and financial rewards for Putin only encourage him to continue the attacks.

 

"We must not give up our positions and must try to end the war. End it, not give Putin every reason to continue it indefinitely."

 

The Ukrainian leader added: “Putin wants to destroy us. He doesn't respect us, our sovereignty, or our territorial integrity. He truly believes that we are not a country, not a nation. Do you really believe that he is satisfied with just the eastern part of our country? And why, when the full-scale invasion began, did he go to Kyiv? Is this about the Donbas? No, this is about the capital. Without a capital, there is no state.”

 

The strike is a humiliation for Putin who claimed one of his war aims was to make Russia safe. There were immediate Russian calls for a devastating response to the St Petersburg attack including use of his Oreshnik hypersonic nuclear-capable "mega-missile".

 

Russian pro-war channels vowed massive retribution with Telegram channel Pozdnyakov warning: "It's time to demand an absolutely devastating ****ing Oreshnik [hypersonic missile] strike on central Kyiv and western Ukraine to bring them to their senses….

 

"The Ukrainians are certainly a reckless bunch. With no [functioning] air defences in Kyiv, they go and attack St Petersburg. I have a feeling the people of Kyiv are going to get absolutely hammered over the next couple of days."

 

Pro-war blogger Yulia Vityazeva called the Ukrainian strike "stupidity and bravado." Zelensky was "begging for missiles and demanding that Starlink be switched back on in the evening, then spitting in Trump's face overnight and taking pride in it – only the Ukrainians are capable of that," she said.

 

Tens of thousands were left without electricity, according to reports. Mobile internet services were disrupted. And four people, including three children, were injured in the Leningrad region from the drone strikes.

 

Putin’s governor in St Petersburg Alexander Beglov said: "Currently, emergency services are extinguishing fires at civilian infrastructure facilities in the Nevsky, Krasnoselsky, Krasnogvardeisky, and Moskovsky districts, as well as at the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal. For safety reasons, operations at Pulkovo Airport have been restricted."

 

Footage showed a strike on the cable-stayed 678-yard Korabelny Fairway Bridge, connecting Bely Island with Vasilyevsky Island. It was closed to traffic and damage on the crossing was being assessed.

 

Meanwhile, nearby NATO state Finland was forced to impose flight curbs as the long distance drones battered the city. Airspace was restricted in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/18 October 2026 - - -