Leningrad Region was targeted by more than 50 UAVs overnight, Leningrad Region Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko has said. The attack caused a blaze at the key Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, which was extinguished after several hours with no deaths or injuries reported.
The northwestern region, which surrounds Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg, was struck by 54 Ukrainian UAVs according to Drozdenko’s Telegram post on Friday morning. The port area, home to a major gas-processing complex and Europe’s largest oil terminal for transshipment of petroleum products from rail to sea tankers, has been hit multiple times in recent months.
St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport reported that it had to reschedule some flights due to aerial incursions by Ukrainian drones.
On the same day, Ukraine struck a residential building in Bryansk, western Russia, killing one person and injuring at least six others, according to Bryansk Region’s acting governor Egor Kovalchuk. Another drone attack in the village of Snytkino also wounded a person.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that 553 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down or intercepted by electronic warfare means across 19 regions overnight. Moscow has condemned Ukrainian drone strikes on infrastructure and residential areas inside Russia as terrorist attacks aimed at compensating for Kiev’s setbacks on the battlefield, where Russian forces have continued their steady advance.
In response, Russia has intensified long-range missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities and logistics infrastructure. According to the Defense Ministry, 14 such strikes took place over the past week, targeting weapons production plants, logistics centers, fuel and energy infrastructure, transport networks, military airfields, and ports where cargo for Kiev’s forces is handled.
Additionally, Russian forces targeted 15 oceangoing vessels operating in the interests of Ukraine’s military, including a tanker, seven dry cargo ships, two tugboats, and five patrol boats.
