In a dramatic escalation of its long-range strike campaign, Ukraine launched a massive drone attack overnight on a critical oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Saturday. The strike, which occurred on July 4, 2026, targeted what Ukrainian officials described as “one of the largest” petroleum facilities in Russia, located roughly 528 miles from the Ukrainian border.
“This is key infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia’s war machine,” Zelensky said in a statement, releasing video footage that appeared to show a drone striking the terminal and a towering plume of black smoke rising over the industrial area. Ukraine’s military later claimed the facility can produce up to 12.5 million metric tons of petroleum products annually. The strike also reportedly hit a major Russian naval base in Kronstadt, home to the Baltic Fleet. The BBC independently verified the oil terminal was hit, though the full extent of the damage remains unclear.
St. Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov confirmed the city was under a “massive” drone assault, admitting the oil terminal was struck. He reported no casualties but said 72 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the city and the broader Leningrad region. Beglov urged residents to stay indoors and warned that mobile internet services could face disruptions. With more than five million people living in the city, the attack marks one of the deepest and most audacious Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil since the war began.
Ukraine has sharply intensified its long-range drone strikes on Russia’s critical energy infrastructure in recent weeks, causing widespread fuel shortages. Kyiv claims nearly 43 percent of Russia’s oil refining capacity has been “disabled” as a result, though the figure has not been independently verified. Ukrainian officials argue that Russian oil and gas facilities are legitimate military targets, as Moscow relies heavily on fossil fuel exports to fund its invasion, which began in February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last week made a rare public admission of fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian attacks, signed a new law Saturday aimed at boosting domestic fuel supplies.
In a separate development, Ukraine’s military denied that the key eastern town of Kostyantynivka had fallen under full Russian control. Military spokesman Major Andriy Kovalyov told the BBC that “Kostyantynivka remains under the control of the Defence Forces of Ukraine,” pushing back against reports of a major territorial loss. The twin updates underscore Ukraine’s strategy of combining deep-strike operations on Russian soil with a fierce defense of contested front-line positions, as the conflict enters its fifth year with no end in sight.