Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of its largest aerial operations of the war, killing at least one person and injuring five others, while fires broke out at oil facilities and other infrastructure near St Petersburg, Russian officials said.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said 1,015 Ukrainian drones were neutralised overnight across 15 Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black Sea. St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov described the attack as "massive", reports Al Jazeera.
Emergency crews battled fires at the St Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpinsky district south of the city. Fires were also reported at an e-commerce logistics hub belonging to Ozon.
Internet company VK reported a drone strike on its data centre in the Leningrad region, although its services remained operational.
Operations at St Petersburg's main airport were restricted "for safety reasons", while Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said 145 drones had been shot down in the region, leaving about 20,000 people without electricity.
US sanctions policy adds to tensions
The attacks came amid growing friction between Kyiv and Washington over US President Donald Trump's decision to pause new sanctions on Russia and the future of an agreement intended to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.
Trump defended the decision to delay further sanctions, saying he did not want to "foolishly" drive Moscow "away from the bargaining table". He also criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for targeting Russian energy infrastructure, saying Zelenskyy "doesn't want to end this war".
Trump announced an "energy ceasefire" on 11 October, but Zelenskyy subsequently told The Financial Times he was "done" with the agreement after Russia continued to attack Ukrainian power grids.
Zelenskyy said on X that Russia had struck Ukraine's energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week following Trump's announcement in an attempt to "cause a blackout".
"America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements," Zelenskyy said.
Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Zelenskyy warned that waiving sanctions would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said siding with Moscow would be a tragedy and a "historic mistake" for the US.
Zelenskyy also confirmed that intelligence sharing between the US and Ukraine had resumed after being blocked for a period.
Russian strikes kill civilians in Ukraine
Russian forces continued attacks across Ukraine, with strikes reported in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and the Volyn region.
In Kyiv, a Russian air strike killed a woman, struck a subway station and damaged a 25-storey residential building. Three people were injured.
Strikes in Zaporizhzhia killed one woman and injured two other people, including a six-year-old child. In Volyn, attacks on an agricultural enterprise and residential areas killed two people and injured 12.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces had launched "almost 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs, and 66 missiles, most of them ballistic" against Ukraine over the course of a single week.