Three injured in Ukrainian drone attack on Saint Petersburg

St. Petersburg: Three people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on St. Petersburg on Saturday morning, city’s Governor Alexander Beglov revealed.

The injured were treated for minor injuries and have been discharged from the hospital, Beglov added.

According to the Governor of the Leningrad region, which surrounds St. Petersburg, 86 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) had been shot down by Saturday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

The attack marks the second major drone assault on St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region since the start of this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which concludes on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at an oil depot in Ust-Labinsk in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Sixty residents from nearby homes were evacuated, and no casualties have been reported, the regional operational headquarters said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 376 Ukrainian UAVs overnight across multiple regions.

“On the morning of June 6, St. Petersburg came under a large-scale attack by military unmanned aerial vehicles. Air defence systems are operating. In accordance with the recommendations of the Operational Command, I ask St. Petersburg residents to remain in their homes and not to go outside,” the governor said.

Residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region have been reporting hearing powerful sonic impacts resembling explosions since early Saturday morning.

Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s invitation to a meeting to end the war in Ukraine did not convince Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, at least for the moment, ruled out the possibility of a face-to-face meeting with the Kyiv leader.

Before the audience of the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Russian President indeed declared that he “still sees no reason” to meet the Ukrainian President, as hoped by the latter in a recent open letter, the Adnkronos news agency reported.

IANS