St Petersburg oil terminal fire kills one as Russia strikes Ukraine

Russian officials report deadly drone strike on St Petersburg oil terminal

Russian officials say a Ukrainian drone attack on St Petersburg killed one person and sparked a fire at an oil terminal. They said dozens of drones were shot down and falling debris damaged homes, cars and power lines. The terminal was still on fire. Helicopters were being used to try to put out the flames. At least 10 people were injured. At least 20,000 people faced energy supply disruptions. Preliminary assessments suggested it was one of the biggest attacks on St Petersburg since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The city is a major port and has oil storage sites. The refinery was not damaged. An analyst said the attack was well prepared and was a response to recent Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy system. A Russian affairs specialist said unusually detailed state media coverage of an earlier attack on the Ryazan oil facility might signal that Moscow will try to use the St Petersburg attack to deepen possible disagreements between Kyiv and Washington.

Zelensky accused Russia of attacking Ukraine's oil and gas sectors 76 times since Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire a week ago. Russia continued strikes on Ukraine. At least one person was killed and several were injured. Reports said a block of flats in Zaporizhia and a school in Chernihiv were hit. The southern port of Odessa was also hit. An expert in Odessa said the city and region were under frequent attack. Targets included energy infrastructure, port infrastructure, logistics, residential areas and bridges to Moldova. She said there had been seven incidents of civilian ships being targeted in Romanian and Bulgarian waters after leaving Ukraine. She warned that attacks on the water system were expected because Odessa depends on external fresh water.

The attack came as Washington defended Trump's decision to waive some sanctions on Russia. Trump announced the move late on Friday and said it was in the US national interest. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he supported the decision. He said the president wanted a 60-day period to analyse what imposing both sanctions and tariffs would mean for the global and US economies. Rubio pointed to pressure on global energy supplies from Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the war in Ukraine. He said countries such as India had diversified their energy supplies but still bought substantial energy from Russia. He described India as an important US ally and partner.

Ukraine's military also faced restrictions on its use of Starlink satellite technology. The network, operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX, supports some Ukrainian drone operations. Alexei Melnyk, a former first assistant to Ukraine's defence minister, said Ukraine was trying to reduce its dependence on US help. He said Ukraine could produce up to 70% of its defence equipment with European support. He said dependence on US intelligence and military support was not as critical as before, although intelligence and anti-ballistic missiles remained critical. He said the Starlink disruption affected military activity on the front line, middle range drones, anti-drone systems and the warning system. He said six ballistic missiles hit Kyiv during the night without warning a few hours after Trump's decision. He said the St Petersburg strike was an example that Ukrainian forces were independent in long-range offensive strikes. He also said Zelensky's angry and emotional rhetoric had been criticised by international partners. He said Kyiv had chosen to escalate not only with Russia but to some extent with the United States.