Massive Ukrainian drone attack hit oil facility, bridge, and data center in St. Petersburg

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include additional details.

Ukrainian forces struck an oil terminal, a data center, and a bridge in a large-scale overnight attack on St. Petersburg on Oct. 18, Russian officials and media reported.

Ukrainian drones hit the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and a data center belonging to Russia's largest social media platform VK, formerly known as VKontakte.

VK confirmed that a drone had attacked its data center, saying its services remained operational. However, users reported disruptions across the social network and its affiliated platforms, according to Downdetector, a service that tracks online outages.

Russian e-commerce giant Ozon reported a drone attack on one of its logistics centers.

"We evacuated all employees, and no one was injured. A fire broke out, and emergency services are working at the scene," the company wrote on Telegram.

Ozon said some orders may be canceled as deliveries are rerouted to other logistics centers. The company is one of Russia's largest e-commerce platforms and a major rival of Wildberries, often dubbed "Russia's Amazon."

Aleksandr Drozdenko, governor of Leningrad Oblast, said 127 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the region. Drone debris damaged four cars in a parking lot, while fires were reported at several locations.

St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov confirmed the attack, reporting fires at the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, the Ruchyi oil depot, and industrial warehouses in the Kolpinsky District. According to Beglov, one person was killed and five others injured, while 12 apartment buildings and two houses were damaged.

Russian state media later reported that the number of injured has risen to 10 people, citing the Leningrad Oblast Health Committee.  

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the targets or the extent of the damage at the time of publication.

Ukrainian monitoring channels Exilenova+ and Supernova+ reported that the "massive" drone attack began at 2:50 a.m. local time.

Eyewitness footage shared by St. Petersburg residents appeared to show Ukrainian drones flying over the city as Russian air defense systems operated.

Large explosions lit up the night sky in the city of 5.6 million people, located 850 kilometers (530 miles) north of the Ukrainian border.

Numerous videos appeared to show the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal engulfed in flames. Located in the city's port, the facility is one of Russia's largest fuel storage and export facilities.

It receives and ships petroleum products by river, rail, and road, with a reported annual throughput of 12.5 million tons.

Ukrainian drone manufacturer Fire Point claimed that its FP-1 attack drone was used to strike the terminal.

The strike comes after U.S. President Donald Trump's attempted energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine failed to prevent attacks on energy infrastructure.

Russian independent media outlet Astra also reported that a power substation was hit during the attack. Blackouts and low water pressure were reported in the region, and an apartment building was damaged, according to the outlet.

The strike on VKontakte's data center marks the latest attack on Russian internet infrastructure. Ukrainian forces have struck multiple Yandex data centers in recent weeks, following President Volodymyr Zelensky's promise that Ukraine would "respond in kind" to Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centers.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, several times during the full-scale war. On July 4, Ukrainian forces struck and damaged the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal in an overnight attack.

Asked about Ukraine's latest attacks on St. Petersburg, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov sought to downplay their impact, telling reporters that Ukrainian strikes on Russia were incapable of "changing the course of events."

As Moscow intensifies its attacks on Ukrainian civilian and energy infrastructure, Kyiv has continued to hit sites deep in Russia. Swarm attacks by Ukrainian drones have disrupted air traffic around Moscow and damaged data centers in the capital region in recent days.