Ukrainian drones set oil facilities ablaze in St Petersburg early Sunday during an overnight barrage that Russian officials said involved more than 1,000 drones, one of the largest aerial attacks of the war.1,2,4,5,6
St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said the strike sparked fires at the St Petersburg oil terminal, the Ruchi oil depot and industrial warehouses in the Kolpinsky district south of the city, and he described the attack as “massive.” One person was killed and five were injured, he said, and several residential buildings and two houses were also hit. Russia's Defense Ministry said it had shot down 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, Crimea and the Black Sea.1,2,5,6
The attack disrupted flights at St Petersburg's main airport, one of the busiest in the country, which Beglov said was restricting operations “for safety reasons.” Ozon, the Russian e-commerce company, said there was a fire at its logistics hub in the city. The internet company VK said drones had attacked its data centre in the wider Leningrad region, adding that normal services were available to users.1,2,5
Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko said 145 drones had been shot down in his region and that about 20,000 people were without electricity after the raid. ABC News reported that two transformer substations were struck in Yanino, and that video appeared to show a drone striking a large bridge in the city.1,5
Accounts of the damage in St Petersburg differed in their details. Al Jazeera reported several residential buildings and two houses were hit, while the Daily Caller, citing the Kyiv Independent, put the number of damaged apartment buildings at 12. The Daily Caller also reported, citing the Kyiv Independent, that the Ukrainian drone maker Fire Point said its FP-1 model struck the terminal.1,6
The strikes came after Trump announced on October 11 that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire,” though he offered no details. Zelenskyy later told the Financial Times he was “done” with the ceasefire, saying he had held off on striking Russia's energy facilities while Moscow continued attacking Ukraine's. Ukraine confirmed on Thursday that it had resumed attacks on Russian oil after a three-day pause, the Washington Examiner reported.1,2,5
Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving a sanctions package passed by Congress that would have significantly expanded measures against Russia's oil and gas industry. On Sunday, he said he had decided to hold off on implementing new sanctions because he did not want to do anything that would “foolishly” drive Moscow “away from the bargaining table.” In a Truth Social post, he said “great progress is being made” and added of the additional sanctions, “I can sign it later, or any time that I want!”1,3,5,6
In the same post, Trump criticized Zelenskyy for targeting Russian oil infrastructure and wrote, “he doesn't want to end this war, and probably never did.” He added, “He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now.”1,3
Zelenskyy said on X on Sunday that Russia had attacked Ukraine's energy, oil and gas sectors 76 times in the week since Trump's announcement, and that energy facilities in four regions had been struck overnight, leaving tens of thousands of families without power. “America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements,” he wrote. Speaking on NBC's “Meet the Press,” he said waiving sanctions against Russia would strengthen Putin's war effort, and that siding with Moscow would be a “historic mistake” for Washington, though he said he trusted Trump. He also said U.S.-Ukraine intelligence sharing had resumed after being “blocked for some period of time.”1,2,3,5
Asked about reports, including by CBS News, that the United States may have intentionally withheld early warnings from Ukraine about deadly Russian missile strikes last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was “not sure Zelenskyy knows what he's talking about, but it wasn't deliberate.” “We have nothing to do with that,” he said. On Ukrainian claims that Starlink satellite service had been constrained, disrupting drone operations, Rubio said, “The United States, nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down. It sort of happened, but my understanding is it's been restored.”3
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state news agency Tass that Kyiv was “resisting” Moscow's invasion but could not “change the current course of events.” In Ukraine, local officials said a woman was killed and at least two other people were wounded, including a 6-year-old girl, in two Russian attacks on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram on Monday that a Russian air strike had killed a woman in the capital overnight, hit a subway station and damaged a 25-storey residential building.1,2,3
Later on Sunday, Zelenskyy said on social media that he had spoken with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about the results of an October 9 meeting between Washington and Kyiv's negotiating teams in Miami, as well as the “next steps in diplomacy.” Zelenskyy has said Russia must face pressure to end the war. “It is Russia that must face pressure for peace to have a chance,” he said.1,3,6
