Russia said Saturday it intercepted hundreds of Ukrainian drones including near St. Petersburg, where Moscow is hosting a major economic forum, as Ukraine reported at least three people killed by Russian strikes.
Moscow and Kyiv have intensified drone strikes on each other in recent months as U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end the more-than-four-year war remain stalled.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) — once dubbed “Russia’s Davos” — ends on Saturday, a day after the event featured a speech by President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian drones hit an oil complex and military base in St. Petersburg, Putin’s hometown, on the first day of SPIEF on Wednesday.
“Eighty-six UAVs have been shot down over the Leningrad region. Combat operations continue,” said Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the region that surrounds St. Petersburg and which is home to key Baltic ports.
Overnight, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed a total of 376 Ukrainian drones “over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Leningrad, Novgorod, Oryol, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver, and Tula regions, the Moscow region, the republic of Crimea, the republic of Abkhazia, and over the waters of the Azov and Black Seas.”
In southern Ukraine, authorities found the bodies of two men who had been unaccounted for following an attack on Zaporizhzhia, according to regional Governor Ivan Fedorov.
One person was killed and three wounded in Russian drone and artillery attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, regional Governor Oleksandr Ganzha wrote on Telegram.
A fire broke out at an oil depot in the city of Ust-Labinsk in southern Russia following a drone attack, according to local authorities, with no reports of wounded.
Russian forces also downed nine Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Saturday, according to earlier updates by the city’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
