Ukraine targets Russia with more than 1,000 drones, striking oil terminal

LONDON and MOSCOW -- Ukraine overnight launched a massive aerial attack, sending hundreds of drones toward targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and striking a major oil terminal again despite pressure from President Donald Trump to end such attacks.

Drones struck a major oil terminal in St. Petersburg as well as a large data center, with videos posted online appearing to show fires burning. Video also appears to show a drone striking a huge bridge in the city.

Russia's Ministry of Defense said it had shot down some 1,015 drones near Moscow and several other western regions, making the attack one of the largest of the war. The attack also appeared to be the biggest St. Petersburg has witnessed.

St. Petersburg’s governor, Alexander Beglov, confirmed the attacks in the city, in a post on Telegram, writing, "Emergency services continue to work on extinguishing fires at the St. Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchyi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpinsky District."

One person was killed and five others were injured in St. Petersburg, Beglov said, saying that apartment buildings and homes had been damaged in the attack.

Two transformer substations were struck in Yanino, in the Leningrad region, Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said, adding that about 20,000 people were without electricity on Sunday morning. Russia media reported the attack was one of the largest the region had witnessed since the start of war. 

The strikes on the oil terminals also underline that Ukraine has returned to attacking Russia's oil industry after pausing to adhere to Trump's "energy ceasefire." The Kremlin never abided by that "ceasefire."

Ukraine had reluctantly halted the refinery attacks under pressure from Trump, after he announced last weekend that the two sides had agreed to the "ceasefire" and following his deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to lift sanctions on Russian diesel.

It comes as Trump this week moved to further ease pressure on Putin while escalating it on Zelenskyy. Trump on Friday waived a sweeping new sanctions package passed by Congress. The sanctions law named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham would have significantly expanded measures targeting Russia’s oil and gas industry.

Zelenskyy has criticised the move, saying it encourages Putin to keep fighting. He suggested on Saturday he believed Trump would likely move to further ease sanctions on Putin, saying the diesel deal was just the first step.

This week Ukraine also reported Elon Musk’s crucial Starlink internet system had been abruptly restricted on its drones, disrupting its military’s operations, with concerns in Kyiv the move was intended to further pressure it. There was also anxiety among officials in Ukraine that Trump may move to limit intelligence sharing providing warning about Russia missiles launches.

Russia has continued to heavily target Ukraine's energy infrastructure without pause despite Trump’s declaring the two sides had agreed to the "ceasefire" last weekend.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday morning accused Russia of "deliberately" launching at least 76 attacks on energy or oil and gas targets over the last week. He said Russia had launched attacks overnight on substations in four regions, including Odesa.

"Tens of thousands of families remain without power," Zelenskyy said on social media. "Energy workers and repair crews are working virtually around the clock to restore electricity supply."

Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured at least a dozen others, he said.

"In total, over this past week, the Russians have attacked Ukraine with almost 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs, and 66 missiles, most of them ballistic," Zelenskyy said. "The main targets of these strikes are energy facilities -- the Russians are trying to cause a blackout. And America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements."