Early on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, Ukrainian long-range drones flew more than 600 miles to strike a major oil terminal in St. Petersburg, Putin’s hometown, hours before his showcase economic forum opened. Thick black smoke rose over the city just as guests began arriving.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strike himself. He said Ukrainian drones hit the Petersburg Oil Terminal and other targets overnight, calling the operation part of Ukraine’s plan of “long-range sanctions.” The drones crossed more than 1,000 kilometers of Russian territory to reach the target.
Smoke over Putin’s big day
The timing was the whole point. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, often called “Putin’s Davos,” is a Kremlin showpiece that drew guests from more than 130 countries this year. Putin is due to speak on Friday. He wanted the world to see a strong, confident Russia. What visitors saw was smoke hanging over the port.
The terminal sits about 17 kilometers from the convention center where the forum is being held. Video from the city showed attendees walking in while dark clouds drifted across the skyline. Police stood in front of the forum’s banners as the haze spread behind them.
St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov admitted that several facilities were damaged in the Kronstadt, Kirovsky, and Krasnoselsky districts. Local officials said a few people were hurt. The city’s airport briefly stopped flights, and authorities shut off mobile internet, a common move meant to throw off drone navigation but also a sign of how exposed the city felt.
An answer to a deadly night
This strike did not come out of nowhere. One day earlier, Russia launched one of its worst attacks of the year, firing 73 missiles and 656 drones at Kyiv and other cities. At least 22 civilians were killed and 138 were wounded.
The losses were heartbreaking. Rescue crews pulled a three-year-old child from the rubble in Dnipro, along with a woman and her eight-year-old son. Zelenskyy said the attack was a clear message from Russia that the strikes would not stop unless Ukraine got better air defenses. Hitting St. Petersburg was Kyiv’s way of answering back.
Why this one stings
St. Petersburg is not just any city. It is Putin’s birthplace and a symbol he ties closely to himself. It is also a key export hub for Russian oil, so the strike hit both a real target and the Kremlin’s image at the same time.
John Foreman, a former British defense attaché in Moscow and Kyiv, said it was deeply embarrassing for Putin’s home city to be attacked on the forum’s opening day. He noted it followed a string of setbacks for the Russian leader, including a scaled-back Victory Day parade in Moscow over drone fears and fuel shortages in occupied Crimea caused by earlier Ukrainian strikes.
For most of this war, the idea held that Russia could strike Ukraine freely while keeping its own heartland safe. That idea is falling apart. Ukraine has shown again that it can reach deep inside Russia and disrupt the very events Putin uses to project power.
One thread runs quietly under all of this. Ukraine is short on air defenses, partly because U.S. stocks were drained during the recent war with Iran, which has left Ukrainian cities more open to Russian missiles. Putin appears to be pressing that advantage while it lasts. You can follow the latest updates on the attack through the Reuters Europe news page. For now, the smoke over St. Petersburg has made one thing clear. In this war, no city is too far, and no party, not even Putin’s own, is safe from interruption.
Frenzy valentine is a passionate blogger, developer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and author of myfreshgists.com.