Ukraine Strikes Deep Into St. Petersburg, Setting Major Russian Oil Export Terminal on Fire

Ukrainian long-range drones struck one of Russia’s major oil export terminals in St. Petersburg overnight on October 18, igniting a fire at the facility as a large-scale drone attack targeted energy infrastructure across the city and surrounding Leningrad region.

According to Ukrainian drone manufacturer Fire Point on October 18, its FP-1 long-range attack drones were used to strike the Petersburg Oil Terminal, a major petroleum export facility on Russia’s Baltic coast. St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov confirmed that the terminal had been hit, with a fire breaking out in its oil storage area.

The Petersburg Oil Terminal is one of the region’s largest facilities for receiving, storing, and exporting petroleum products, with an annual handling capacity of approximately 12.5 million tons.

The complex contains 32 storage tanks with a combined capacity of approximately 442,000 cubic meters, making it an important component of Russia’s petroleum logistics and export infrastructure.

Footage published by the Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ showed flames and smoke rising from the facility following the overnight strike. Reports indicated that the fire was still burning at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time.

The extent of the damage to the terminal’s storage infrastructure and its potential impact on petroleum exports have not yet been independently established.

The Petersburg Oil Terminal was not the only infrastructure facility targeted during the overnight attacks. Drones also struck a data center operated by VKontakte, Russia’s largest domestic social networking platform, near St. Petersburg.

The attack coincided with disruptions to VKontakte services and electricity outages in parts of the city and surrounding Leningrad region. The nearby 330-kilovolt Vostochnaya electrical substation was also targeted.

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