Three killed, 21 injured as Russia and Ukraine exchange massive overnight drone strikes

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - MOSCOW — At least three people were killed and 21 others injured as Russia and Ukraine exchanged massive overnight drone and missile strikes on Sunday, with Ukrainian attacks targeting oil facilities, logistics centers and a data center in Russia, while Moscow launched fresh strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

In Russia's St. Petersburg, one person was killed and five others injured during what Governor Alexander Beglov described as a "massive" Ukrainian drone attack.

The strikes sparked fires at the city's oil terminal, the Ruchyi oil depot and several industrial warehouses, while 12 apartment buildings and two private homes sustained damage, Beglov said on Telegram.

Emergency crews continued battling the fires as authorities assessed the extent of the destruction.

An Ozon logistics facility in St. Petersburg was also struck, triggering a fire and forcing employees to evacuate. The company said no injuries were reported at the site.

In the neighboring Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said four people were hospitalized following the attacks.

Drone debris struck an apartment building in Gatchina, while 55 parked vehicles were damaged in Novosyolye.

An emergency power outage also affected 50 apartment buildings, leaving approximately 20,000 residents without electricity, according to the governor.

Russian social media company VKontakte confirmed that its data center in the Leningrad region had been targeted but said its services remained operational.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian territory, Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and the Black Sea.

Separately, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said 512 drones had been directed toward the Moscow region overnight, most of which were intercepted at a distance from the capital.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian overnight strikes on residential buildings across Ukraine killed two people and injured 12 others.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of repeatedly targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure despite an energy truce announced by US President Donald Trump last week.

He said Russia had carried out 76 attacks against Ukraine's energy, oil and gas sectors since the announcement.

According to Zelenskyy, Russian forces targeted electricity substations in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa regions overnight, leaving tens of thousands of households without power.

The Ukrainian president said Russia had launched nearly 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 66 missiles, most of them ballistic, against Ukraine over the past week.

He stressed that energy facilities remained among Moscow's primary targets.

"And America should see that Russia is not taking any reciprocal steps in response to sanctions relief or agreements," Zelenskyy said.

"On the contrary, they take every signal of an opportunity to make money as proof that their bet on war is paying off and they can keep fighting," he added.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had conducted overnight strikes against Ukrainian logistics centers, ports and vessels allegedly supporting Ukraine's armed forces.

The ministry claimed that a logistics center operated by Ukrainian postal company Nova Poshta in Rivne had been struck, alleging that the facility was used to store and distribute dual-use goods, including components for medium- and long-range drones.

It also claimed that a cargo vessel carrying military and dual-use supplies had been hit at sea approximately 30 kilometers east of the port of Odesa.

Ukraine's Air Force, meanwhile, said its air defense systems had shot down or suppressed 152 Russian drones during the overnight attacks.